Second Lives
by LostKey
Summary: Team 7 are the only people remaining after a grueling war against Akatsuki. With their village destroyed, they have nothing left but each other. So they use a Jutsu to take them back to when they were 11 years old to change everything.
1. Prologue

This is a reloading of **Second Lives** by _xfurbyx_. This will be my new account and the only one I will be updating from.

Sorry for the problems this my cause any readers.

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**Prolouge**

Three figures stood solemnly in the distance: Two males and one female. Their clothes were worn and greatly tattered, signs of past battles evident. They looked to be only young adults, barely out of their teenage years. However, one look in their eyes indicated how much knowledge that they held, that they were mature beyond their age. These eyes also probably saw more pain and anguish than what they were ever meant to see.

What they stood on was the rubble of a wasteland that was once a great village…A great village that had once flourished with power and might, but now, only a mere shadow of its past splendor. It served now as a graveyard for the countless people who had perished; a resting place of some sort.

In front of the three was a huge burning funeral pyre that stretched a great distance. For countless days, this pyre had been burning, like a conflagration, as more and more bodies were found and added. Ashes upon ashes clouded the air, smothering the earth and sky, blocking the sun with its flaky and somber presence. The reeking smell of burned flesh and charred wood hung like a dense cloud. To the three people, it was like hell on earth as they placed the dead inside one by one. Familiar and unfamiliar faces were both consumed by the greedy raging flame never to be seen again…It was a massive sight that fueled by the deaths of a great many people. But the three kept waiting. They waited and waited for many days.

Today was the final day of burning as signs of a dying fire became evident. They watched as the already small fire began to diminish into mere flickers. After a few moments the last flame died with a choking sputter, leaving the three individuals in deathly silence, empty of the burning cackle of fire. It was finally over. "So this is it you guys…That was the last of them." whispered one of the males. He had a strained smile, his sapphire eyes shining brightly with unshed tears, as he fought to keep them at bay. His two companions nodded their mournful acknowledgement. The young woman sniffled as she rubbed her swollen jaded eyes trying to rid herself of her last tears while the raven haired male stood stoically in attention, though his haggard face showed great sorrow. They stood there quietly. For what seemed like centuries, but in reality, only a couple of seconds, silence reined the area.

With a sigh, the sapphire eyed teen brought out a worn and ancient looking scroll. "Are you two sure?" The woman gave him a glare and practically hissed out her answer "There is nothing left for us here. We have nothing to lose now. Nothing." The stoic male nodded in agreement "We don't have any more choices." That was the end of that. The blonde heaved a weary sigh, "Right…Okay let's go." His two companions nodded in confirmation. He opened the scroll and placed it gently on the ground.

The three moved to stand in a triangle, facing each other leaving the scroll in the center. Simultaneously, they perform a series of complex hand seals that they had hoped that they would never have to execute. They had agreed, when they first came across this technique, that it would be used only if such a disastrous scenario were to occur. The Nine-Tailed Fox, the creator of the technique, had cautioned them about the risks it posed to their lives. It was a time traveling technique that the demon fox provided them with. Early research had indicated that it had the possibility of allowing them to enter another time, if not, another dimension… However, that was only speculation and there was also a high possibility of death. They had joked about where they could have landed and had a good laugh about it. But, it wasn't so funny now. One could say that they were desperate to try such a technique, grabbing at any chance to redeem them.

They did not know where it would lead them for it had never been used by any human beings. The three didn't really care though… Maybe they might die, maybe they might live but at the moment they all just wanted to get away; anywhere, anywhere but here…here where there were too much painful memories and tearful angry regrets.

After the last set of hand seals were completed, the scroll began to burn an eerie red glow that slowly consumed the three. They began to fade. The blue eyed teen turned his head towards the remaining cinders of the pyre sadness marring his usual bright face. "May you all rest in peace that you all so rightly deserve…Hopefully, this will never happen again." A sudden flash enveloped the three wiping them away from existence. They were gone.

A sudden gust of wind blew through the ashes, dispersing the cloudy air with relative ease. A crack of sunlight lit onto the clearings of where the pyre once stood. And on the center of the ground where the three had stood, a bright crimson flower blossomed.


	2. Starting Again

Konohagakure no Sato, the Village Hidden in The Leaves, commonly known as Konoha was getting ready for another busy bustling day. The sun was beginning it trek to its full height, an indicating that morning was soon to be upon the village.

Shop owners began setting up their stores, cleaning and restocking all of their products that would wait on shelves to be bought. Some early risers were simply taking a stroll on the street, enjoying the last minutes of quiet and peace. Others were already beginning to browse around the many different shops that were open, on a hunt to bargain and buy what they needed. It was a beginning of another normal day.

Somewhere in the waking village, a shrill sounding alarm clock rang though the room of a small apartment building. The occupant of the room groaned under his warm soft covers before peeking through towards the source of the noise. He glared at what he deemed, the evil ringing alarm clock, and slammed it shut with a satisfying thump. With that accomplishment he crawled out of his bed and stumbled towards the bathroom to begin his morning routine. For the most part, he was still in dream land filled with ramen, lots and lots of it; after all, one can never get enough ramen. Thus he was so enraptured in his daydream that failed to notice his face in the mirror, not that he didn't care about his face.

So he continued on in his ramen daze finishing his bathroom routine and began heading towards the kitchen for food. As he passed by the calendar that hung slanted on his wall, he absently noted that he was suppose to go to school later for teams. He continued on for a good three seconds before he stiffened in shock. All thoughts of ramen completed wiped from his mind. He ran back to the calendar and stared at it in complete disbelief "…This…This is impossible! What the hell is going on?" You see, what shocked him so much was what was scrawled in by a bright red marker. REMEMBER! TEAM ASSIGNMENTS TODAY!! DATTEBAYO!!!

This couldn't be possible. Unless… Did it really work? Was it likely? A growing hope welled up in his heart. He ran to the nearest window in the room and flung the shutters open. He was greeted with a sight that nearly overflowed his heart with happiness. It was Konoha in all its glory, unmarred by constant battles. It was a beautiful sight to behold. He did not notice or feel the tear that slid down his face. Never had he thought that he was going to be able to see this wondrous sight again. He slumped down against the wall and started to chuckle. It then bubbled into full blown laughter. It worked. But wait. If it worked then…He ceased laughing and took a look at his hands…

He shot up and made a run to the bathroom peered tremulously into the mirror. At that moment, he could not decide whether he should've been happy or sad, but he was definitely shocked. There staring back at him was, well, himself…a boy no older than eleven, with the same gravity defying hair and bright cerulean eyes, and with a finishing touch of the tell tale whiskers he always had. No way. No way. No Way.

He backed up banging to the wall behind him, laughing weakly before punching his hand up in triumph "So we did it…!" He covered his face wearily, the sudden adrenaline early in the morning finally coming to a halt "We…really did it…We're still alive."

"I wonder how they're coping with this…" he muttered, unable to help but smirk at the thought. But first, he needed to check on his little occupant. He relaxed his body and closed his eyes, delving deep in to his mind. He walked through the familiar passageway constructed like sewer pipes. He was not daunted by the dreary surrounding; rather, he enjoyed the walk, going at a leisurely pace until he reached his destination. Opening the door, he came upon an immense cage that loomed in front of him. The cage was wide open. How that cage was opened was another story. Right now, in the room, there was a gigantic majestic red fox with nine tails, otherwise known as the Kyuubi no Kitsune ready to pounce.

Before he could even voice a greeting, the demon clamped its host beneath its paw and roared in anger, "**UZUMAKI NARUTO! I can't believe you fools actually used it! You all could have royally screwed yourselves over and DIED! Do you guys have no sense at all? Did I not SPECIFICALLY forbid you all not to use it?!**" Uzumaki Naruto rolled his eyes in annoyance before glaring at the fox, "Well, whose fault was it for telling us about the scroll and then giving it to us about it? Huh? And anyway, it's not like you can kill me, unless you want to be suicidal. If that's the case, then be my guest." The fox let out a feral growl before moving away from his host and back towards the cage, frustration showing in his every stride. "**That was not the point! It was to teach you guys the concepts of creating techniques. I told you that it was an untested creation—**"

Naruto cut in, true irritation beginning to get the better of him "Look, we already knew the risk. You drilled it into us with every waking moment you had. But, you knew we were thinking about using it for a while now. Even you could see that we failed". The fox glared at him but did not respond. Instead it flopped to the ground and faced the other direction, which looked really childish for such a great demon. "You knew as well as I did. There was nothing worth fighting for anymore. Even though we beat them, it was at the cost of everybody's life. That was an empty victory. We didn't even have a place to call home anymore. We had nothing left" finished Naruto calmly, albeit bitterly.

"**Well, congratulations. You idiots actually did it through SHEER DUMB LUCK. Now go away.**" the fox sneered. Naruto pouted, before moving to the fox and sitting next to it, "Oh, Come on Kyu! You know that you were really worried about us! You love us! Right?" The Kyuubi grunted a denial choosing to observe the cracks on the wall "**Why would I care about a tiny pipsqueak like you? It is a waste of my time**"  
Naruto twitched "I am not a pipsqueak! I'll have you know, I did grow!" shouted Naruto indignantly.

The fox gave a throaty laugh, **"By how much? Two inches?"**

"KYUUBI!!!" Even as the fox cackled at its host's annoyance, he knew that deep down inside, no matter how much he tried to deny it, he was rather relieved that the three were alright. Though the fox would rather die than tell anybody he had come to see the three kids as his kits. He had watched all three of them grow greatly and become strong beyond what many expected. He did not know when, but somehow he had grown attached to the three humans, much to his distress.

Naruto heaved a sigh of annoyance as he realized that the fox had long drifted off and had completely ignored what he had said. He left the fox, returning back to his apartment. As he got up from his seat on the floor, he felt two familiar chakra strings poking at the back of his mind. He hastily performed a series of hand seals and could almost feel the two strings connect to one of his own forming a single twine of chakra. This twine allowed them to communicate with each other, like a telephone.

'**So, enjoy being eleven years old again?'** asked Naruto jokingly as he felt a tinge of annoyance from both of his teammates.

'**You could have warned us, idiot. You know I hate surprises.**' replied Sakura. She had almost screamed when her mother came to wake her up.

'**Hey. I didn't know about it was going to be like this either so don't blame me!**' said Naruto in mock despair.

'**It is too early. Shut up**.' muttered Sasuke, displeasure coloring his tone.

Naruto merely shrugged to himself before saying **'You're just not a morning person.'**

Sasuke glared darkly as he moved towards his bathroom, '**You're just an energetic freak that can't shut up.' **

Naruto twitched in irritation, **'TEME' **

Sakura laughed quietly to herself, receiving strange glances from her parents that she chose to ignore. "**I didn't realize that it took so much concentration and chakra to get here." **

Naruto paused from what he was doing, frowning, **"Well, I guess it's cause we are only eleven years old. I mean, I'm surprised that you guys were even able to get here."**

"_**That, is because once this link is made, it can't be completely broken. You should all thank me for thinking of such an ingenious idea. Think of it as a boon and a curse that can only be lifted if one of you died. It'll never leave you. I know since I was the one who created it. Plus it was definitely an entertaining experience for me when guys first used it." **_interrupted the fox.

Sakura gave a snort of disbelief, _**"Of course for you, maybe. But, I on the other hand did not enjoy that experience at all. I had to redo the entire project process all over again."**_ she grumbled in frustration. Naruto just glared while Sasuke chuckled quietly. The fox gave another cackle of glee.

(Flashback)

It all began as just another training day for Naruto. Like always, he trained till was completely and entirely exhausted, covered from head to toe with cuts and bruises and unable to move at all. While he lay on the ground to recuperate, he was having a somewhat civilized conversation with the Kyuubi. Yes, a conversation. He had found that the fox inside him was surprisingly interesting to talk with even though the fox constantly made fun of him and his stature.

At one point, Naruto mentioned how easy it would have been if he could just send a mind message to Sakura so that she could heal his wounds. Kyuubi, being the oh-so kind demon, suggested a technique that it created that could connect them via chakra. Without waiting for the complete explanation, Naruto immediate performed the technique. Sakura, who had been in the middle of doing a delicate project that required the upmost concentration, was so surprised to have her mind violated and suddenly connected to another person, she accidently crushed the poor project she had worked so diligently on for days. An enraged Sakura then went on a manhunt for the culprit, Naruto, beating him into a bloody pulp, much to the blonde's dismay and the amusement of the fox.

When the Kyuubi finally stopped laughing, he decided to interfere. To the two teen's surprise, Sakura was able to hear the fox demon. After a couple of minutes of shock and another couple minutes getting over it, Kyuubi explained that the mental connection, once made, could never be broken and that no one else could spot it. As much as Sakura disliked the idea, it was an ideal solution for communication, especially when they didn't want to be heard. Sasuke was also introduced to this a day later, with consent. The mental link was like a walky-talky; they were able to talk with a barely noticeable amount of chakra. Convenient. They were able to know how far apart they were from each other by the thickening and thinning of the chakra link.

They also found that they could go meet the actual Kyuubi and each other but only in the room with the cage. It turned out that the Kyuubi was the source that was linking them together. Initially, both Sakura and Sasuke were rather wary about talking or even meeting the demon fox. But they gradually got over it. Gradually. For a demon fox, it was surprisingly well learned, and had a sense of humor…sometimes. All of them had at one point or another conversed with the demon whether it was for information or simply just to talk to it. The talks led them into wondering why the fox really attacked the village since through its conversations; it had absolutely no interest in it. The three teens soon uncovered that the Kyuubi was actually, not the one to be blamed for the attack. Rather, he was controlled and forced against his will to do the bidding of the one that managed to seize control of his mind. When they found who the actual perpetrator was; they were furious.

(End Flashback)

"**So we really made it work."** said Sakura thoughtfully.

Naruto smirked **"Duh."**

She glared before continuing, "**But what will happen to the time that we left? And why are we here?**'

The fox grumbled from where it resided, settling its head on its paws, "_**I told you numbskulls that it was an untested method. My speculation is that that we actually still in the same time dimension. The time that you were once in is now but one of the many possible scenarios. But know this; it is highly possible for a repeat in history if you guys make all the same mistakes again.**__"_ The three teens nodded their heads grimly. They could not let that happen.

"_**Now, leave me alone you irksome ticks. You guys sapped too much of my chakra for the technique, chakra that is going to take a very long time to replenish. Plus, you idiots destroyed the scroll which I had been worked on for centuries! All that information! Gone!**_" The three winced a chorus of apologies soon followed. They knew that they had wasted away a lot of chakra and even more of the fox's. Had they not used it, they would have all perished. The fox huffed it's annoyance but decided to let them off. "_**Also, Naruto, Don't expect to be healed anytime soon**__._"

Naruto paused midway from dressing, "**Wait! What?! That's not fair**!" Naruto pouted and whined.

The fox sneered, "**Tough luck. Suffer like the rest of your companions**." With that Kyuubi retreated deeper into its cage, and his link dimmed to a miniscule thread.

Naruto glared before muttering "Vindictive fox…Didn't have to take it all out on me."

"**Well, from the way I see it, we are going to have to begin train…I don't think we have any of the muscle or chakra as compared to before**." said Sakura.

Naruto moaned **"No…First no healing and how this? That is just so unfair!"**

Sasuke rolled his eyes and said "**Live with it, dobe. At least this time we will have a hell lot more of a head start…**"

Naruto nodded, albeit reluctantly and added "**Well, I suggest we start training right away…after the team assigniment"** It was essential. No arguments.

Suddenly, Sakura groaned from her connection, "**Do we still have to act like the way we were when we were eleven? I don't think I can stomach squealing and being head-over-heels in love with Sasuke…I view you two as my equals. It would be…so awkward screaming like a fan girl."**

The two other boys shuddered, as memories of how Sakura and the rest of the girls acted around Sasuke began to re-emerge. **'She's right you know…I don't want to act like an idiot either…"** commented Naruto.

Sakura coughed while Sasuke bit back a snort.

Naruto frowned before rolling his eyes "**Thank you for that vote of confidence. I suggest we just surprise them all.'**

Sasuke sighed "**I don't like where this is going…'**

Naruto diligently ignored the comment and began to laugh manically **"I can't wait to see the look on their faces. I can imagine it already! This will be the best prank ever!" **

"**How about we first all meet together at the bridge?"** Sakura suggested.

'**Fine**.' replied Sasuke, already walking towards the meeting place.

"**Yah…I'll have time to think of a plan…"** replied Naruto. Sakura sighed in exasperation before leaving, her chakra link, just like the Kyuubi diminished to a mere hair width. Sasuke followed after her and his link diminishing as well. Naruto dropped his thoughtful look that was replaced by a serious face that looked rather strange on the eleven year old boy's face, "I can't believe we're actually here..." He looked outside once again admiring the view before him, and promised himself "This time...this time I'll protect you all."


	3. Meeting Kakashi

"Where is HE? If I had known that he was going to be late, I wouldn't have skipped breakfast!" ranted Sakura as she tapped her foot impatiently. Sasuke wisely kept silent for he had learned not to interrupt these moments. Bad things happened. The two had been waiting for their blonde companion for at least half an hour and Sakura was very pissed. Sasuke silently promised himself to never be late or at least arrive before Naruto. Sakura was still as scary as scary as always.

Suddenly there was a shout, "Hey guys! Did you wait long?" yelled Naruto. Sakura turned automatically to the source of the sound. She was about to punch him when she noticed that he was carrying a big bento box. "Did you make something?" she asked completely forgetting her anger that was replaced by curiosity. Naruto nodded and smirked, "Yup and I bet someone is hungry!"

"Oh come on! You should have at least told us." said Sakura with a pout.

"But I wanted to make you guys wait! Okay, fine. It's not much. It's only a simple bento!!" said Naruto as he split the bento. He gave one to Sasuke and Sakura, both accepting it. They had found out much later in the future that out of the three of them, Naruto was the better cook. For some reason, whenever Sasuke cooked the food always came out burnt and charred beyond recognition. Sakura on the other hand managed to mutilate all the food into some creation that could not be called food…at all. Thus, Naruto deemed the only competent one and was then forced to learn how to cook. It turned out that he had a somewhat inherent skill at cooking; it was just that he was lazy and usually just stuck with ramen.

As they sat and ate, Sasuke commented "Think of the blasphemy when people find out you can actually eat things other than ramen." Naruto shot him a glare and scoffed "I do still eat ramen. It's not like I forsaken it. Ramen is a gift of the gods~!" Sasuke rolled his eyes. They continue to eat in silence, enjoying the quiet companionship. After they finished, they quickly set out towards the academy at a moderate pace, chatting quietly, unaware of the glances of disbelief that were shot at their way.

"For some reason, I feel like we are being watched." muttered Sakura as she looked around at the people they passed by. Naruto and Sasuke snorted. "Think about it Sakura-chan! Me n' Sasuke absolutely hate, no scratch that. We LOATH each other. You would never see us on the same block! Also, Sasuke has a streak of absolutely despising human contact so it's unusual for him to even be near people of his age at all. Plus, everyone has that stupid vendetta against me cause of our old resident fox." Naruto explained casually, as if he were talking about a recipe. He was unaware of the looks of anger traded by his two teammates, and if he noticed it he chose to ignore it. A growl resounded through their minds, "_**Hey! I resent that! I had no control over what happened.**_"

"I know but its how the people feel here…We'll just have to put up with it. It's not that bad." said Naruto with a shrug.

"How can you be so calm about this?" muttered Sasuke as he observed the hate filled eyes that were directed towards the blonde.

"Oh come on, We've been through this before. There is no need to talk about it" said Naruto rather testily.

"Fine, Excuse me for caring." Sasuke shot back equally annoyed. The two glared at each other.

"Okay! You two stop it before I knock you both out!!" yelled Sakura with a look that promised a painful beating. The two boys abruptly shut up and shrank back from Sakura. She smiled and the killing intent that was radiating from her disappeared as if nothing had happened. "Now, how about we get to school before it starts without us. We're going to be late…Remember what we were going to do" They continued talking instead about the plans.

Poor Sasuke. The urge to kill someone was growing by every passing minute. He had forgotten that there was a fan club dedicated to him, a mob of shrilly annoying girls. After two years of solitude and then the war, he was mostly girl free. It was but a dream now…Now here he was trying VERY hard to ignore all the whispers and squeals of the detestable fan girls.

He cursed Naruto, inwardly, for telling him to come in early. There was a reason for never being early and always on time. This way the fan girls wouldn't have anytime to jump him. But now, all he could do was sit with a completely blank expression, which was threatening to slip. Give him Orochimaru over a hoard of girls like these any day. At least that bastard didn't talk girl talk. Where were Naruto and Sakura?

He eyed the clock in the front of the room. There were only 3 more minutes till class started and Iruka-sensei was already walking in with his usual stack of graded papers and walked to the door to talk with the next door teacher. The students took this as a sign and began moving to their seats grudgingly. Sasuke breathe a sigh of relief until, he noticed a movement towards his side. He wanted to groan. It was the start of another 'who wanted to sit next to Sasuke?' scramble.

'_Oh no...kill me now…_' as he eyed the three girls who began to walk up to him. '_**Now **_**would be a good time for you guys to make your stupid entrance!**' he thought through the link, with rising agitation. He wanted out. Why him…of all people.

The girls were now right in front of him, sickly adoring smiles on their faces, when suddenly there was a shout tinged with barely suppressed glee. "Sasuke!!" They all turned to see an extremely happy Sakura coming along with a resigned looking Naruto. Sasuke let loose a breath of relief that he had not realized that he was holding.

Everybody watched in silence, waiting for Sasuke to explode. No one ever called him so informally; it was taboo. Sasuke's mouth twitched with what seemed like annoyance, but his two teammates knew that he was trying to hold in a smile. When there was no response, Sakura continued with a beaming smile "Can Naruto and I sit next to you?" This time, everybody could only gap in shock. It was already bad enough that she called him so informally but it was unthinkable to ask to sit next to Sasuke. Adding to that, she wanted Naruto to sit with her and Sasuke too?! Sasuke's mouth twitched again. One could almost hear a pencil drop to the floor as the occupants of the room waited for the oncoming explosion. But, to everyone's surprise the moody quiet student actually nodded his consent.

It was through deathly silence that Sakura dragged Naruto to one side of Sasuke and dumped him into the seat and seated herself on the other seat next to Sasuke. It seemed like time froze as everybody. What in heaven's name was going on? It looked like Sasuke was relieved that they were sitting with him. And if that shock wasn't enough, Sakura proceeded to actually talking with Sasuke, like it was normal. The girls in the class glared at Sakura with bloodlust hate, who did SHE think she was?! Sasuke was supposed to all theirs! Meanwhile the guys glared at Sasuke with unveiled envy and anger for getting the smartest and prettiest girl in the whole grade. Naruto, instead of joining the guys of the class in jealousy and shouting obscenities to his rival, joined the conversation talking civilly with both Sakura and Sasuke. That, in itself, was the greatest shock of all.

There was an angry shout, "Stop that THIS INSTANT!!!" Yamanaka Ino stood from her seat, the very epitome of fury. How dare Sakura do that! The nerve! Blasphemy! "Sakura! What the hell are you doing?! Sasuke is not yours!" yelled Ino in annoyance moving towards where the three were seated. The fan girls converged around Ino and nodded their agreement, jealously shining clearly in their eyes.

"What's wrong with it Ino? Are you jealous? It's not like you can do anything about it." taunted Sakura with a smirk on her face. Ino bristled in anger. Naruto snickered once again while Sasuke just smirked. Then two long time rivals began to talk to each other! Civilly! Astounding!

"I have dibs on Sakura winning if they decide to fight." volunteered Naruto with a smirk, leaning against his seat casually.

Sasuke raised his brow "I'm not betting if it's going to be like that."

Naruto shrugged and stuck out his tongue, "Well, sucks for you." Sasuke rolled his eyes at the childish antics "Dobe".

"What is this I hear about betting? Hmm?" asked Sakura turning from her confrontation to the two males. Naruto winced and ran his hand through his hair, a sign of nervousness. Sasuke smirked.

"Eh heh heh...Well..."started Naruto when the bell rang, signaling the start of class. He sighed in relief. Saved by the bell indeed.

Iruka, who had been talking to another teacher outside the classroom when this all occurred, coughed to gather the attention of the shell-shocked class, "Okay kids, Today, as you all know, you will be assigned to your first three-man teams." announced Iruka to the unusually quiet class. Iruka raised his brow when he noticed that no one called out or anything. He also noticed that all the students were stealing glances at Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura. He wondered why, but nevertheless, he continued "These teams were made to suit all of your areas of expertise or lack thereof…Team 1 will be… (Blah, (:P)blah)…Team 7 will be Haruno Sakura, Uzumaki Naruto, and Sasuke Uchiha. Your jonin instructor will be Hatake Kakashi…Team 8 will be…" The reformation of Team 7 listened attentively and noted with relief that all the teams were just as it was before. They had been expecting separation as the worst possible circumstances and had desperately hoped against it. Luckily they prevailed.

After sorting the teams Iruka left the students to the whims of the jonin instructors. Most of the genin followed the instructors with gloom and unhappiness as with whom they were pair with. One by one, jonin instructors came and picked their teams up. Soon, there was only one team remaining. Guess who that was.

"Argh! Why is it that he is always so LATE." growled Sakura as she paced the room for the umpteenth time, but it was in an endearing manner nonetheless. The two males watched her pace in boredom, wholeheartedly agreeing to her statement. "Well, we should be thankful that he is only late. He's alive and well." commented Naruto quietly, a sad smile on his face. Sakura paused from her pacing, abruptly sitting herself down onto a vacant seat clasping her hands tightly.

(Flashback) He had been assigned to spying on Akatsuki after the death of Jiraiya, much to the displeasure of Naruto. However, they were short on men, and they needed information. Naruto had no choice but to allow his former sensei go into enemy grounds. The first few rounds had been successful and Kakashi was able to provide valuable information concerning certain storage facilities, but in his last mission Kakashi was ambushed by missing ninjas. Though out numbered 30 to 1 he managed to kill around two thirds and severely maimed the rest. However, he was only human. His excessive use of the sharingan greatly hampered his stamina and causing him to sustain heavy wounds. Even with the help of medic nins, the damage done to his body was too great. After two days, he passed away, leaving Team 7 without a teacher and one less friend. Another loved one was once again added to the dreary list of the deceased. (Flashback End)

"Well, we will make sure that he stays alive this time. Maybe we can get him together with someone and make them have children." Sakura said smiling trying to disperse some of the somberness. Naruto laughed outright at that idea adding to it, "Imagine if we got him together with Anko." The three shuddered at the thought. "Actually, let's not do that…Our goal is to make sure we just keep them alive."

This time it was going to be different, definitely. Suddenly a thought made Naruto grin evilly. As he got up and moved to the front of the classroom, he beckoned his two teammates to follow him, "Hey! Why don't we prank him? I haven't had a good laugh in a while" They looked at him amused…but nodding their agreement….After all, it was time for a little payback.

Naruto quickly told the two the list of ingredients he needed. They all separated to get what was needed, returning with an assortment of tools. Naruto snickered as he placed a pot of sticky liquid over the door. "This is going to be so much better than that stupid chalk dust trick." Sakura and Sasuke nodded their agreement as they set up a fan at the opposite end of the door, a wire attached to the fan switch and the door knob. Sakura could not help but giggle quietly and even Sasuke cracked a small grin in anticipation.

Thirty minutes later, Hatake Kakashi glared at his future students; one did not bother to hide his evident glee, one was trying to but failing to suppress her giggles, while the other one simply smirked smugly. The reason? Well, who wouldn't laugh when there was a chocolate syrup covered man, dotted with feathers? The pot that Naruto had tipped on top of the door was chocolate syrup. When the unassuming Kakashi opened the door, it poured out its contents on the target's head. Opening the door had also tripped the fan to blow all the feathers in front of the fan thoroughly covering him with a second coating of feathers that clung to him like bugs.

Kakashi paused as he took in the damage. So these were the type of people he was going to be teaching? He gave a rather evilly chuckle which caused the students to finally shut up. "Well, my first impression of you three is that I hate you all very much." They all winced as he continued with a rather suspicious looking smile not bothering to go through the usual introductions "Now that I have your attention, I'd like you all to tell me a bit about yourselves. Tell me your name, what you like, dislike and what your dreams are."

The three traded glances before Sakura piped up, feigning confusion "Um, Sensei? Could you give us an example? We don't even know who you are…" Her teammates nodded their agreement.

"Hm, alright. My name is Kakashi. My likes and dislikes are not of you business and my dream does not concern you." replied Kakashi, looking very content with his answer.

They all sweat dropped. It was just like last time; they only knew his name…again '**Hey should we go by what we went with before or change it cause I really don't want to squeal over you Sasuke**' Sakura mentally frowned. She had gotten over her crush on Sasuke and saw him as a brother. It would be really strange to squeal about your own brother… wouldn't it?

'**Doesn't matter. He knows nothing about us except out academic grades. We really got him hating us this time. **' thought Sasuke as he crossed his arms acting every bit like a 'sullen' boy.

"Okay, you blonde. Go first" said Kakashi, choosing at random. Naruto perked up and shouted "My name is Uzumaki Naruto! I'm going to be the greatest Hokage and protect my precious people. I hate manipulative people and people who hurt my family. I especially hate snake people…Umm I like ramen, my family, and training, AND RAMEN!! That's all you need to know about me for now!"

Kakashi could not help but have a sweat drop when Naruto screamed the last part about ramen out... However, what interested him the most was this mentioning of family. From what he read about the boy, he was an orphan. Other than that, the obsession with ramen was…a tab bit creepy.

"Okay next pinkie" Sakura glared at Kakashi for the use of the nick name but proceeded to answering the questions, "My name is Haruno Sakura. I like learning about medical issues and learning, generally. I agree with Naruto in that I hate manipulative and evil people as well! My dream is to surpass Tsunade, the Sannin. I will overcome her no matter what." In her mind she heard two chuckles before Naruto pointed out, '**Your dream came true already.**_' _Kakashi raised his brow in surprise but said nothing. So this girl had ambition. He liked that.

"Hmmm I see, Okay moody boy you next." Sasuke twitched and glared at Naruto who was snickering. "My name is Uchiha Sasuke…I enjoy training and quiet. I hate a lot of things that had happened to my clan… I will get revenge…" answered Sasuke in an unsure tone, as if he were testing it out for the first time.

'**I think…'** Naruto and Sakura traded grim knowing glances. After 'that' incident, Sasuke was a mess. His definition of right and wrong were turned upside down. That incident brought many things to light concerning the standing of the Uchiha clan as well as the council. Even now he wasn't sure.

"I also hate betrayers." Indignant cries rang through the link at what the Uchiha said, but it was ignored. Naruto looked furious while Sakura hid a frown. Kakashi noticed the negative response from the two other team members but chose to ignore it.

He had always regretted leaving the village and severing his growing bonds with his teammates in favor of chasing after power. He made so many wrong choices and really couldn't forgive himself especially after he found out the actual truths. Even when he was welcomed back with open arms, he could not bear to be close to all of the people he once knew. Instead he signed himself up for all the impossible and what Naruto deemed the suicidal missions. It was his way of atoning, much to the distress of his team members.

Kakashi raised his brow for that seemed like the tenth time. He assumed that by betrayers, the boy meant his brother, Itachi after all that former Anbu practically annihilated the whole Uchiha faction. He also assumed that the kid would have been more hateful considering what happened to his clan. Instead, the Uchiha was surprisingly passive.

Kakashi eyed his team in wonder. There were so many things off with this group. He just couldn't lay a finger on as to what it was. It was a lot different than what he had expected. Even so, these thoughts would be for another time, right now he needed to get the main part of the meeting, "Well that was extremely kind of you all to share your thoughts. It's wonderful that you guys seem somewhat more motivated than the past groups I had, but we'll see if that is all just empty words or not. Tomorrow we will have a little exam to see whether or not you guys are competent enough….though I highly doubt you are." The three bristled at the last comment, fuming by the barb at their capabilities.

"I suggest that you all skip breakfast if you don't want to throw it all back up. That experience would be…rather unpleasant." He grinned evilly before disappearing in a whirl of smoke and leaves leaving the three to their own devices.

The three kids stared at the empty spot for a moment before and it was silent. Suddenly, Naruto launched a punch at the Uchiha, who was sent tumbling back in surprise. "What the fuck-!" yelled Sasuke in anger at the sudden attack. As he moved to retaliate, Sakura blocked his way glaring at him, "You deserved that. How many times have we drilled that it wasn't your fault!"

Sasuke eyed his teammate with an equally angry glare, "I didn't deserve to be forgiven. I betrayed the village and its people. I left it."

"But you came back! You helped so much on those missions and you even became the captain! The people wouldn't have made you captain if they thought you shouldn't have been forgiven. Wasn't that enough? You did just as much as Naruto in trying to protect the people. If it weren't for you we would have lost so much more! For heaven's sake, I would have done the same thing you did and left the village if I were in your shoes! " yelled Sakura in frustration, tears threatening to pour from her eyes.

Sasuke who had gradually lost his glare, eyed his teammate despondently as images of the dead unintentionally flashed before his eyes, "Even though I became Captain, they all died. You know that there is still a possibility…"

Sakura sighed sadly, wrapping her arms around herself, anger gone leaving her looking like a lost girl as she too remember. It was particularly the children. The poor kids that were caught in the crossfire, orphaned and injured. There were so many that she couldn't save even with her medical expertise.

"If you still feel that you can't forgive yourself then take this second chance to redeem yourself." Sasuke and Sakura turned to Naruto gazed at them with an uncharacteristically serious stare. He paused for a moment, choosing to look out the window at the village. The two followed his gaze. "Look at this village, Sasuke. It's beautiful and peaceful, so unaware. They have no idea what is in store for them. But we do. We were given this lucky chance to protect this village once again." He returned his gaze back to his teammates, eyes an icy sapphire blue "We must make sure what happened in our past never happens here. Understand?"

Out of habit, Sasuke and Sakura stood in attention, forgetting that they were only eleven year olds. Before them was their leader and he just gave an order. They nodded their agreement. Naruto eyed the two before him before falling back to his usual grin pushing the two out the door of the classroom, "Now what's with all the grim looks! Act like the eleven year olds we're supposed to be~!" And just like that, all the tension that had built up cracked into pieces.

Sakura could not help but giggle at the blonde's antics, while Sasuke cracked a smile. "Now come on~! We need to practice a bit before our showdown with the Kakashi Sensei!"

Many hours later, it was becoming dark and Team 7 found a sad but given truth. They were absolutely WEAK.

They had started with simple tasks making multiple clones in an attempt to multitask. Since they had a better understanding of the concepts, it was a heck of a lot easier to control their chakra. When they walked up the tree, it barely took an hour. That was viewed with much enthusiasm. However that enthusiasm sunk when they decided to try walking on water. That was when problems occurred. None of them could honestly say that they didn't fall in, not even Sakura who had the most chakra control over all of them.

Their stamina was truly a mere flicker of what they once had. Even Naruto with his never ending strength showed signs of fatigue as they attempted to train using clones. They ended up tiring so much sooner than they expected.

However by the end of the day, they were also able to recover a tidbit of their lost skills. Sakura was able to break through boulders that her size after two or three hits and her chakra reserve improved greatly from where it started out from. Sasuke had managed to open his sharingan bloodline, and was at one tomoe when he had Naruto create clones to continually attack him. Naruto had worked to increase his chakra precision, though he was far off from where Sakura was, and there was no way he could even attempt a rasengan anytime soon.

Their taijutsu could be a lot better if they continued to practice. Overall, it was a semi productive day.

Currently they were all down on the ground, completely exhausted. "Man, I wish I had my skills back. This is a nightmare" complained Naruto as he looked up into the darkening sky. "Though, at least we are definitely better than we were before…." His two teammates nodded their agreement. They were all covered in small scratches and bruises. Sakura was against using any medical jutsu's explaining to her two teammates that if she used the chances were that they would have only received more injures. A peaceful silence descended as the three stayed where they were, content to sleep the night here.

Suddenly Naruto sat up and turned to face his two teammates "So, we should totally give Kakashi-sensei a surprise he will never forget. I don't think the chocolate tarring and feathering was enough." Sasuke rolled his eyes while Sakura giggled as the image of Kakashi popped up in their minds.

"Well I was thinking-…"

'_**Think at home.**_'

They all jumped and looked around to find no one. Who was that? There was a sigh, '_**Why did I have to be stuck with the idiots? I'm in your minds you brats**_' Oh. They had forgotten about the fox. Naruto gave a frustrated growl, though he began to rise from the ground "Oh it's the overgrown fox. Stupid thing ruined my train of thought"

'_**Why, you little insufferable brat! If I was in my real body then you would be--"**_ Naruto pointedly ignored the fox's rant and waved goodnight to his teammates.


	4. Testing I

It was another beautiful day in Konoha. The weather was just right with very little wind and a bright shining sun. There wasn't a single speck of a cloud in the sky. Every once in a while there would a slight breeze ran through the trees making them rustle quietly. Overall it was a perfect day to take an exam. In an empty training ground designated for the said exam, three figures suddenly appeared each carrying a bag that held suspicious items. They looked at each other with smirks on their faces. This was going to be a day worth remembering. After a brief discussion, they consulted a map that one of the males created before they each split off into different directions to set it up.

Sometime later, the same three people reappeared. However, this time, they came empty handed though they exuded an air of satisfaction. Each took a different place near three worn-down wooden blocks that were wedged firmly to the ground. Had anyone passed by, they would have thought nothing about it. After all it looked to be that the three were simply hanging out and having a friendly discussion, not planning the humiliating demise of their teacher. If a person were to move a tad bit closer they would realize that it was far from being a friendly discussion.

"I can't wait until he comes. He needs to get a taste of what he had done to us. Especially what he did to me!" stated Naruto arms crossed, leaning against one of the wedged blocks.

"You weren't the only one that was humiliated." replied Sasuke, who was standing against a tree to the side, in annoyance.

Sakura nodded her head in agreement, "Yes, I think that was the only time I ever screamed so loud. I can't believe I fell for such a juvenile trick."

"At least he didn't leave you underground." muttered Sasuke. He could still vividly remember being buried alive. It was not the most pleasant experience.

"What's your point?" Naruto scowled, "What he did to me was the most humiliating thing ever! You all saw what happened. Compared to me, you got off easy."

Sasuke's mouth twitched while Sakura giggled. They both recalled what had happened to Naruto. While it was the funniest thing that ever happened, it also showed how far Kakashi was willing to go to make a fool out of them. They all shared a laugh. As they continued to bicker about miscellaneous things, an observer watched them with keen interest.

He stood a couple meters away, in the shade of a tree as he studied the group that was supposed to be his team. Kakashi had only just arrived and decided to watch them for a little while. From the way it looked, the three looked completely content with each other, something he had never seen before... Usually, the new teams were rather sullen and often argued amongst each other. He watched as they laughed once again and frowned as he remembered what was written on the report.

It clearly indicated that Sasuke was a complete loner, a recluse that always seemed to be moody and unresponsive to people his age. However, it also said that the kid was smart and had talent. Naruto was supposed to be a loud mouth boy that would do anything to get attention. He ranked the lowest out of the whole class. It was said that Naruto and Sasuke had a bad relationship and would often get into fights as well. Sakura was supposed to be a heart stricken girl in love with the Uchiha while also harboring an intense hatred at Naruto. Though she was at the top of the class intellectually, her expertise in taijutsu was mediocre at best. From what he surmised in the report, he was sure that there was going to be internal strife.

But as he watched them from where he stood, he was at a loss of what to think. There was no fighting, no arguments. The way they portrayed themselves was similar to that of long time friends, nothing like what the report said. Sasuke and Naruto looked nothing like rivals and Sakura was not pining after Sasuke and shouting hateful remarks to Naruto. The two males did not treat Sakura as the weaker of the bunch because of her gender; rather they treated each other as an equal. In fact, a feeling of camaraderie was what the three exuded. Kakashi was starting to think that either the report was inaccurate, or that the three were just really good at hiding their friendship. He gave a small groan of aggravation. Why did he have to be assigned to this team?

Initially, when he first glanced over the reports, he dashed them off as another bunch of kids with no real talent, even the Uchiha. That boy was too caught up in his anger which Kakashi found to be a great hindrance. They even had the audacity to pull that trick that left him smelling like chocolate for hours. However…Kakashi sighed; they seemed different from all the other teams he had, slightly more mature…they definitely had the determination. Things weren't adding up. Kakashi sighed again before making his appearance. Might as well get down to it now… maybe he might be able to purchase another volume of Ichi Ichi Paradise that had just come out after this and drown out all his confusion in it.

He moved from his position and casually strolled into the training ground, catching the attention of the three genin. He gave a lazy wave before greeting them "Yo."

Sakura had a disapproving glare, "Excuse me sensei but I thought you told us to be here by 8 O' Clock sharp. We were about to go and look for you!"

Kakashi raised his brow in amusement, "Well pinkie, I was walking here when I saw this old lady that needed help with her groceries so I went and-" He watched as the three genin rolled their eyes, a clear sign of disbelief. Did his reputation of being late circulate that even genin know about his excuses?

Naruto threw his hand up in exasperation "Can we just get on with it?!"

Kakashi could not help but raise his brow however he decided it was best that he just get on with it, might as well lead them on. "I am going to keep it simple." He took out a timer and set it on one of the blocks. "I will set an alarm that will go off at noon, which is roughly an hour from now. That will be your time limit." The three genin traded looks before nodding their understanding.

He continued, taking out two small bells and began tying them to his kunai pouch, "As you see, I have these two small bells which are now tied to me. Your exam is to simply steal these from me before the timer sounds. Anybody who is unable to obtain one will not only be excluded from lunch but will also be sent back to school as a failure. Understand?"

Instead of faces of shock and surprise, there were only amused glances and confident smirks. How surprising. Naruto gave a cheeky grin "Bring it on Kakashi-sensei." His teammates seemed to share his idea; in fact they looked down right eager to start.

Kakashi fought the urge to roll his eyes and couldn't help but give a small smile at the enthusiasm. Maybe, just maybe, this group could do it. Maybe they understood. "All right, remember that all you need is just one bell a piece and whoever doesn't get one will go back to school. I expect you all to attack as though you mean to kill me for you'll never get to me with lackadaisical movements."

"Are you sure you want all of us to attack as if we were to kill, Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked with a rather feral grin, obviously ready to start. Kakashi eyed the girl before him warily, some signal going off in his mind, telling him that he was treading on dangerous waters. The three looked like hounds waiting to be released. What did he do wrong?

As he eyed the three, he thought to himself idly, 'Why do I have a bad feeling that this is not going to end prettily?' before giving his reply, "Like I said before, pinkie, attack as if you were going to kill me."

"We'll hold you to that." said Sakura, trading grins with her teammates.

Kakashi bit back the urge to sigh, before clicking the timer, "Begin!"

The Hokage sat before his jonin instructors expectantly. He was a man who had seen many things in his life time becoming wiser, as a student, teacher, and leader. He was the sandaime. Truthfully, he should have retired a long time ago, however that incident all those years ago, forced him back into service, not that he didn't enjoy it. He loved his village. But really, it was tiring at times especially with each passing year. It didn't help that there was a constant onslaught of papers and reports that needed to be read.

Currently, he was meeting with all the jonin and listening to the report from those that were assigned teams. Some of the jonins that didn't have teams simply came to enjoy the tales of failures or success. So far, only two genin teams from this year had made it, Kurenai's and Asuma's. They had been expected to pass since one was the re-tailoring of the Ino-Shika-Cho group and the other team consisting of Hinata, Kiba, and Shino whom all had similar attributes leaning towards tracking. The Third Hokage was pleased with those that passed, but what he was really waiting for was the one that belonged to Kakashi. Heck every single one of them wanted to know what would become of that team. It was the team with the container and the last heir. However it was taking quite a while. It made the Hokage wonder; though it was know that Kakashi would be late, it was within a reasonable time slot.

The Hokage tapped the ashes out of his pipe. He was really beginning to question what happened as more time passed by. Kakashi was never _this_ late to something important. Suddenly there was a poof of smoke. Though they all knew who it was likely to be, it was a shock when they saw what had happened to the jonin. Never did they see the jonin come so beat after a session with genin. Hell, usually he was the one that returned squeaky clean, not covered with cuts and bruises everywhere. It also seemed as if a rainbow had decided to give the ninja a big hug. He was covered in an assortment of colored blots. Really what had happen? It was a rather tense silence as many jonin present could not decide whether or not they should laugh and face the wrath of Kakashi. They definitely wanted to know what happened here.

"Team 7 has passed with flying colors…" said Kakashi in an even tone, completely disregarding the reaction that he had created for appearing in such a state. He stood calmly, solely focusing on the Hokage. Said Hokage was trying very hard to suppress a smile that threatened to overtake his face. He covered his mouth as if he were going to put the pipe at his mouth. The Hokage gave a sign of dismissal. Kakashi gave a quick bow before disappearing as quickly as he appeared. As soon as he left, the room was flooded with conversation as they all talked to each other in amazement. First off, Kakashi never passed anybody….that was blasphemy in itself! Added to that, the man came back looking like he went through a war with colors, quite literally.

Asuma chuckled before breaking out into a bark of laughter. What an amusing turn of events, "Well, he had it coming. I wonder how those kids pulled that off." The Hokage joined in quiet laughter and looked out the window, pleased with the outcome. '_I guess they were able pass then. What a pleasant surprise._' With the final results in the Hokage dismissed the whole group, leaving them to speculate at what had happened in the fight against Team Seven.

Meanwhile, Kakashi slammed the door to his apartment with a definitive bang. He walked straight to the bathroom and eyed the mirror image before him. A slew of curses threatened to burst through his mouth but he only grunted before heading for the shower and getting himself cleaned up. Sometime later, after the water was no longer mixed with paint, he got out and changed into sweats and a black shirt. He thanked the gods that the paint was not permanent else he would have had to use genjutsu to cover them. With a sigh, he sat at his couch holding some bandages and disinfectant. Time to assess the wounds he received. It was an assortment of bruises and cuts that ranged in many sizes. Some of them were small while one particular bruise was the size of his fist. Surprising how the three were able to give such damage. As he began to apply disinfectant and wrap them, his thought began to wander back to the actual fight.

How could he have let this happen to him? They completely shocked him, derailing what was written in the report. Sure, they had the starting foundations of becoming a well rounded team. But how was it that they were able to communicate and do all of this. It was as if they were completely comfortable with each other that they could sense each other's movements. They were definitely experienced in team combat. But how was that possible since they had only been assigned together yesterday?

Not only that, they got the bells from him like it was child's play, actually worked out a rather cunning plan that he had grudgingly admired. He was truly surprised at the display of team work and he once again felt off balanced.

He frowned slightly pausing from his medical administration. It was rather strange now that he thought about it. Everything really seemed planned and well rehearsed, as if they had really done it all before. It was like they knew about the test before he even started to explain it. Maybe an elder genin had told them before. It was puzzling just how much in sync they all were after all, to carry out a plan like that required a great amount of group work. Plus, he felt sure that they could have beaten him if they wanted to, considering how much of a disadvantage he was. If he had not let his guard down and had not been so shocked, it would not have come to such a spectacle. Kakashi frowned. 'W_ell, I'm sure this is a mystery waiting to be solved. Team 7…_' Kakashi gave a small grin…just maybe, he would enjoy this assignment.

A couple of hours before, at the testing grounds:

The moment Kakashi announced the start of the exam; the three genin quickly dispersed, completely hiding their presence. He was impressed. They would have put a lot of chuunin he knew to shame. He had to commend their efforts as he looked around. It would take some effort to actually locate them, '_Hmmm, I wonder where they could have hidden themselves._'

He had an ominous feeling as he quietly observed the area around him. Then, suddenly, something, no some things flew towards him. He moved just in time to see two shuriken came passing by from different directions, crisscrossing each other. They had just missed him by a hair width. What were these genin doing? Quite suddenly after that thought, there was an abrupt barrage of shuriken and kunai, that seemed to be released by pre placed wires. Were they hoping that if they launched enough weapons that they would get him? He continued to dodge them with relative ease as a couple more rounds were aimed at him. This was rather dull. He was half tempted to take out his favorite book and read.

Suddenly, random incoming shuriken exploded as they approached him, releasing pellets of different colors collided into him at a rapid speed, like paintballs. He gave an inner moan of anguish as the pellets landed on him, splattering a blot of bright red and sky blue. There was no pattern that he could perceive and he was unable to pinpoint the actual locations. He was becoming a collage of colors, all of them bright colors that many ninja dreaded and downright despised. It didn't help that there were still real weapons amongst the shower of metal. He could definitely surmise that the amount of cuts he had received exceeded the amount of fingers he had. This was already not going in his favor. What a sudden change in events. By now he was practically surrounded by a sea of weapons that were splattered with paint, while he himself looked like he decided to take a shower in a rainbow. Those little brats…

Meanwhile, the, brats-, members of Team 7 were having the time of their lives as they watched their trap unfold with sadistic glee. Round after round of shuriken and kunai were released with a trip of the wires that they had set around the area. The pellets that they had inserted in were working wonderfully, turning their usually darkly dressed sensei into a bright flashy clown. Revenge was sweet and it was only the beginning!

"This is so worth getting up early for." cackled Naruto with glee as he watched the scene before him. Sakura and Sasuke watched with equal amusement all the while trying to stifle their laughter. They still needed to make sure they weren't found yet. As they watched the last two waves release the final load, they sobered up, though there was a constant giggle. It was time to continue with the act.

Naruto motioned them to get ready, "Alright, I believe that was the last line of wire. Time to commence Phase ll. Spread out and remember the plan." His teammates nodded and they each took separate routes to their designated area.

The first part of the plan was to be carried out by one of them. That person stood at the location, patiently waiting for the arrival of Kakashi. It was time to give some back to the jonin sensei.


	5. Testing II

Kakashi, well known as a calm collected man who was rarely shaken, could not help but curse profusely in his mind. He eyed the damage that was done to his regular uniform; it was his favorite set too. It had lost its dark colors, instead gaining a myriad of bright eye piercing colors. He knew from what he glimpsed, that he probably resembled a rainbow right now…Out of all the things they could have done, why this? Why the obscenely bright colors!

He had a sinking idea of who suggested it, '_That little prankster, I going to kill him when I get my hands on him...' _However, even as he thought that, he had to admit that he admired the ingeniousness of the plan, implanting paint bombs. What was nagging him was the potential threat that could have happened had the implanting had been poison instead of paint. He would have definitely gone down in a real battle. It was a mistake to let his guard down.

Suddenly the barrage of weaponry stopped. As he surveyed the massive sea of weapons that were splotched with paint he could not help but be impressed by the magnitude of weapons used. However, it was strange that genin even possessed this much. He moved from his location, ready to investigate. Almost immediately he spotted the wires that were used to launch the weaponry. He gave a quiet whistle of appreciation. These kids might actually have some worth. The wires were intricately set in such a way that from one location, it was possible to release the all the wires that surrounded the center that he stood in. It was a wonder how they were able to set this up so quickly. How was it possible to have used so much? More questions.

He moved from the wires and jumped to a tree. Screened by the leaves, he slowly viewed the surrounding area. He had underestimated the kids. That much he was willing to admit to. However, this could not continue. After a couple of seconds, he spotted a shadowy figure in the clearing, standing towards the west of the wooden stumps. '_I found you. __Just you all wait….I'm going to pick you all off…one by one..._'he thought before giving a small evil chuckle.

Sasuke was waiting patiently from where he stood, in plain sight. He had seen Kakashi already, really who couldn't. The rainbow color attire made him very obvious amongst the green and brown landscape. He also knew that Kakashi had also spotted him and was coming for him, just like they planned. Now he just needed to wait until Kakashi showed up.

'_He will regret this__…revenge will be ever so sweet. I just hope this stupid body will hold up._' At that thought, a smirk grew on his face; a smirk with malice that was rather odd on the usually expressionless face of the genin. His did not deny that his pride took a big blow and was still a bit sore from the first time. When Kakashi managed to catch him off guard and pull him underground, he was infinitely dismayed. It was a humiliating defeat and he planned to redeem himself today. This time it'll be different, very different. He felt a quiet presence towards his left. '_Finally he's here._' thought Sasuke absently as he felt the man walk towards him. The smirk that graced his face before was quickly smoldered with an empty gaze.

"Yo" Kakashi called from where he stood. Sasuke quickly spun around to see, making sure to show surprise. There was Kakashi, casually leaning on a tree holding the everpresent Ichi Ichi Paradise. Really, some things never changed… Sasuke did not reply to the greeting, instead he was more focused on trying to force his mouth muscles from smiling. Kakashi noticed his attempt to hold back laughter and gave the boy a glare that would have made any Anbu shiver in fright. It only made the Uchiha want to laugh all the more at the sight. His mouth was developing a twitch that just wouldn't go away.

'_... That's it, number one priority when I go home: take a bath._' Kakashi thought with a sigh, before continuing in a nonchalant attitude "The strength of the Uchiha clan…the most elite family in Konoha…I am looking forward to it..." It was just like last time. Sasuke smirked and crouched into a fighting position. Kakashi had long ago put away his precious book and waited patiently for the genin to make the first move.

Sasuke quickly slipped his hand into his pouch and flung a couple of shuriken at Kakashi at a speed worth reckoning. However, Kakashi dodged them all effortlessly. "A frontal assault is useless against me" Kakashi taunted as he returned to a relaxed posture. But it seemed that he spoke to soon for one of the shuriken that he had dodged had cut through a rope that was hidden in the bushes behind him.

'_Crap. Another trap_.' was all Kakashi could think of before he was assaulted by a volley of kunai from all directions. '_When did he have the time to set this all up?!_' thought Kakashi as he tried to dodge all of the kunai launched. Sasuke allowed himself a smirked before going in to confront the occupied jonin. '_Time to surprise the old man and pay him back._' thought Sasuke.

Just as Kakashi finish dodging and blocking all the kunai, he was yet again assaulted, but this time with a barrage of taijutsu from the young Uchiha and was once again surprised. '_How did he get so skilled, a genin shouldn't be this advanced no matter how good or how well known his clan is!_' Kakashi thought while moving to block all of Sasuke's attacks. He was so preoccupied with his thoughts and the onslaught of attacks, Kakashi failed to notice Sasuke perform hand seals, until it was too late…

By the time he recognized the technique, the Uchiha had already taken a deep breath and Kakashi was enveloped in gargantuan sized ball of fire. Sasuke did not wait to see if he hit his target or not. Instead he looked down at the ground intently and waited tensely for the attack.

Suddenly a hand shot up from under him, making a grab for his leg. Sasuke smirked '_Not this time Kakashi, I know all your tricks now. You won't catch me with that trick again._' True to his word Kakashi only grabbed empty air as he came up. Sasuke had jumped away the moment he saw the fingers coming up. So imagine how shocked Kakashi was when he only grabbed empty air. '_How was he able to avoid that?! I'm pretty sure he would never think that I would be underground!_' he thought as he looked around calmly though internally he was frantically trying to come up with an answer. But his confusion proved to be a fatal error.

Before he knew what hit him, Kakashi was kicked in his ribs, from behind, with an unbelievable force that practically sent him flying into the trees and beyond. Sasuke landed smoothly with the devloping grace from his prime time. He watched his sensei go flying into the forest and he almost felt bad for Kakashi…almost. Well, he didn't have to worry about it, after all its not like Kakashi will die.

'**I am finished with him. He's in your area**' Sasuke called through his link. '**Okay, I got it. I will begin the next part.**' was the reply before the link connecting them closed. Sasuke smirked before breathing heavily fighting the urge to drop to the ground in exhaustion. A light sheen of sweat had begun to cover his body. "…Stupid crap old body lacks stamina..." he muttered to himself in annoyance. He had pushed himself from yesterday and just now. His body was beginning to show the results of fatigue. Nevertheless Sasuke walked towards the wooden blocks set on continuing the plan while making a mental note to start training as soon as this test was over.

Meanwhile, Kakashi groaned from where he had landed in a tree yards away from Sasuke had kicked him… '_That would have been bad if I hadn't reinforced chakra into my body._' He had done it just in time. Had it been a bit later, then he would have been admitted into the hospital with a couple of broken ribs.

'_He is rather talented...arrogant but talented. I wonder if the other two are any better…though I highly doubt it_' thought Kakashi. Surprisingly the Uchiha had not attempted to make a grab at the bell though he clearly had a chance. He looked around from where he now stood and spotted a bright colored head sticking out in cluster of bushes. _'Well, well, well. Look at what we have here._' thought Kakashi. '_This shouldn't be so bad considering Sasuke was the strongest…and the other two are probably weaker. I wonder if I should toy with them_' thought Kakashi with a grin before disappearing from his vantage point.

Kakashi approached the bushes, considering the options before choosing the one that was most likely to produce a shriek, and threw a small explosive towards the bright colored head.

BOOM!

Kakashi giggled sadistically and waited for the genin to come out screaming, but it never came… Kakashi frowned in confusion. What was going on? When the smoke cleared out, he saw only charred bushes and a very ashy block of wood. '_What?! A clone?!_' he thought as he realized he fell for the most simplest ninja trick.

"Now, Kakashi Sensei. Is that how you would treat an unsuspecting student?" chirped an inquiring voice behind him. He turned around and looked down in shock as the object of the explosion stood there completely unfazed and cheekily grinning back at him.

'_I seriously need to stop letting my guard down' _thought Kakashi with an inner grown.


	6. Testing III

I think the style of writing might of changed a bit...o.o Anyways, Enjoy~! : )

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To say Kakashi was surprised would have been an understatement. Though most would view that trick as nothing, this was Sakura we were talking about. As if she knew what exactly was going on in Kakashi's mind, Sakura only gave a small grin as she observed her sensei's obvious confusion. It was moments like this she wished she had a camera to take a snapshot of her sensei's face, it was priceless.

Meanwhile Kakashi was really beginning to wonder what he signed himself up for. The amount of surprises he already experienced was already more than all the other teams he examined combined. He was really coming to hate it. This was definitely not worth the pay he received. His wondering cost him.

Using his confused state to her advantage, Sakura made a speedy lunge at Kakashi who barely brought his arms up in time to block. Yet again, Kakashi was met with a continuous onslaught of punches and kicks, however this time it was from the pinky of the group. Though he managed to dodge every single blow, he had to commend the speed the girl used. She was a lot more nimble than he had expected. With some work she could probably be even faster than Sasuke or Naruto. He had to say; even with all the surprises this turnout was actually becoming rather enjoyable.

Sakura, on the other hand, had a few not so nice words she wanted to say as her sensei continued to elude her attacks. Nothing of her blows were landing, absolutely nothing! She needed to end it soon or else she wasn't going to last. With that thought she renewed her vigor. Her efforts to strike her sensei down were what she solely concentrated on.

Kakashi was beginning to notice something peculiar. Though it was evident that the girl was trying really hard, her moves were becoming more lethargic. It also seemed like the genin was slowing at an abnormally fast pace: her movements were steadily declining not by the minutes but seconds.

He soon found out why. As she missed another jab to his sides, she hit the tree behind him instead. What happened to the tree after that shocked him. The poor tree was reduced to splinters! His eyes widened at the spectacle before him. Suddenly, it was all coming together.

Upon closer inspection, the girl was focusing a layer of chakra towards her hands and was steadily building up enough chakra to cause a big impact when she hit. To do such a thing would require a constant concentration of chakra and as well as a constant supply. It was no wonder she was slowing down so fast! How long was she doing this? It was very advanced considering the fact that she was a genin only and from what he gathered, the school's curriculum did not cover the specifics on chakra control.

It was probably from a book; after all, she was at the top of all students in academia. But to attempt learning this alone would take many months. There was no way that she would be able to master it so quickly.

Kakashi disappeared from view. Sakura cautiously looked around for the missing sensei.

'_This is strangely familiar...._' she thought before recognition hit her. She looked down at the ground before her and gave a small smirk. Molding as much charka as she could afford to add to her already chakra fused hands, she punched the ground with all her might.

"Hey there Kakashi-sensei! Found you!!" said Sakura with a grin. Everything in a 5 meter radius was reduced to a mess of rubble. Kakashi, who had been hiding underground, watched with amazement at the sheer power she used a move similar to only one woman he knew. What in the world?!

Kakashi was simply stunned, '_This is impossible! To have this type of monstrous strength at this young of an age; she's almost like Tsunade! How did she get it to this point? Better yet, how did she know that I was hiding underground?_' As these thoughts were running through his mind, he failed to see that Sakura had used his surprise to her advantage. In a matter of seconds Sakura was in front of him at point blank range. He looked into her eyes, saw the smirk and braced himself for the impact…only to see her disappear. What?!

As Kakashi looked around his body began to feel queasy, like it was being squashed by a grinder of some sort…

'_What's going on?_' He was starting to feel queasy and disoriented. It hit him, 'It's a _genjutsu!!'_

"KAI" he shouted and sighed with relief as his queasiness began to fade. He almost got caught. That was close.

"Tsk tsk, sensei! How could you fall for the simplest genjutsu? A shinobi should always expect the unexpected!" lectured Sakura who was standing right in front of him. Kakashi stiffened at the comment. He had nothing to say for it since, she was right. Had he been in an actual mission, the mistake would have cost him dearly, he would have died. Sakura noticing the sudden lapse in concentration and took the opportunity to punch him again, but this time with all her chakra focused in her hand. Though Kakashi was partially ready this time, he was only able to reinforce his chakra around his body. It was just in time, but he was not braced for the impact…thus sending him flying once again. '_This seemed to be happening a lot today'_ thought Kakashi as he was yet again sent airborne.

Sakura watched worriedly as she Kakashi went flying…very far... "Oops… Maybe that was too hard. I really hope he didn't get too hurt." Then she heard lots of branches break and a distant yelp of pain. Well that meant he survived.

"Oh well, he's alive… not my problem anymore." she said with a giggle.

'**Hey, I'm done with him. He's all yours and don't forget the plan!**' she thought through the link as she began a slow trek towards her next destination.

'**Roger that ma'am. Go meet up with Sasuke and get ready! It won't take long.**' was the teasing reply before it became silent.

Sakura giggled before giving a sigh of exhaustion. She could really feel the depleted of chakra getting to her. It was like she had been fighting for hours instead of merely minutes. She sighed, mildly miffed and disgusted at the condition of her genin body. One day she was going to get her body back in shape.

To her it was a horrible feeling, to be so powerless. What was she doing at this time as a genin? Oh wait, she was being a fangirl. Never mind that, she will improve.

When she reached the wooden blocks, she noticed that Sasuke was leaning against one of the blocks, arms crossed and eyes closed, actually looking peaceful. Well that was through a stranger's eye. To a stranger, he looked like he looked perfectly fine but to Sakura; his skin color was a tad bit off, a sign of exhaustion.

"We are weak." he stated without bothering to move or open his eyes as his teammate approached him. So he experienced it as well.

Sakura dropped down next to him and gave a sigh "Yes…and I don't think I like it either. I don't even remember the last time I felt so tired after doing something as simple as that. It's been a while since I felt so…powerless."

Sasuke grunted his agreement before shifting his position into a more comfortable one. It sucked to have everything they worked so hard to attain be stripped away so simply.

Sakura continued, playing with a strand of grass from the ground, "…I guess the only thing we can do, no, that we must do is train harder. Now that we know where our limits are…" Sasuke nodded absentmindedly as he watched his pink haired teammate fiddle with the grass.

They sat in silence as they both quietly reviewed their fights in their mind, their more experienced side already picking out errors and areas that needed improvement. They had so much to do. Sakura then got up and dusted herself while Sasuke shifted from his position. They would have time to review their problems later. Right now, they needed to concentrate on the current mission. Soon, they would have to make their move. They walked to their final destination. It was almost time to end this.

Meanwhile…

"Ouch…" complained Kakashi as he dislodged himself from the broken wood branches that he had gone crashing through…Lucky for him that he landed amongst branches instead of rocks."That girl could sure pack a punch. I really need to find out how she learned that…How is such a thing possible?" he muttered to himself as he brushed some branch limbs from his shoulder. This team was so strange! So many things he had seen so far were contradictory to what was written in the report. He was beginning to wonder which one was true, what he was seeing now or what he had heard from that teacher that oversaw the genin.

He was brought out of his thoughts when he heard the sound of a snicker. He turned around to find his last genin leaning against a tree in a relaxed posture. It was evident that the blonde was trying to hold back laughter. "Hey, Kakashi sensei, that's a nice costume you have there. Are you planning to join the circus or something? I heard that it's in town right now. You'll fit right in."

Kakashi twitched in annoyance before he took a good look at his body. He couldn't help but give a reluctant smile. The kid had a point; he did look rather…colorful. He was covered with cuts, bruises, from the shuriken and the colored pellets really did a number to his clothes. It didn't help that a big splotchy imprint of a fist, where Sakura had last punched him in, added to the comedic effect. His hair could have been a home for a bird, for it was still filled with braches of different sizes and an occasional tuff of leaves. All in all, he was a complete mess.

"Very funny. Why do I have a feeling that you were the mastermind behind this whole setup" Kakashi replied, amusement evident in his tone.

Naruto gave a deceptive grin, "You wound me sensei. You have no idea how much that hurts. After all most of this was though up by my two teammates. They are rather imaginative when it comes to traps."

Kakashi fought to roll his eyes at the genin's antics, "Of course. Keep deluding yourself."

Naruto shrugged. If he didn't believe him then it was his loss. The blonde's grin suddenly evolved into a smirk, "Any way, you should give me the bell while you still can. It'll save you from further humiliation."

Kakashi did not bother hiding his disbelief, "Why don't you come and get it from me, brat?"

Naruto let an exaggerated sigh out before moving from his place by the tree, "Hey, I was just warning you. And for your info, I'm a very powerful brat!"

Kakashi had to commend Naruto's confidence. Who knew what the prankster would do. He had a nagging feeling considering all the surprises he had seen from the genin's team members. He was not going to like this.

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More chapters~!_  
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	7. Testing IV

Hi! Thank You All for review and taking time to read this story. I hope you're enjoying it! : ) I realize there might be grammatical errors but bear with it for now " I will eventually correct them, i hope. Once again thank you all for reading~! Enjoy!

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Naruto and Kakashi eyed each other intently, a prevailing silence descending the field. You could almost hear a pin drop. This silence would have gone on had it not been for Naruto suddenly charging at Kakashi, instigating the fight.

The blonde attacked with a flurry of punches and kicks, determined to land one on his sensei. However, it was to no avail as Kakashi blocked all of Naruto's attacks with relative ease. Already, the contrasting strengths were sorely evident. The jonin could not help but give a teasing comment, "So I was right about you being all talk with nothing to show for it." He then knocked Naruto back with a kick to the boy's side.

Naruto landed on the ground with a solid thump, from which he gave an indignant yell of annoyance, "Hey! That isn't true. You haven't seen anything yet!" The blonde scrambled back up to his feet and glared at the man before him. He was going to make that man pay.

Kakashi shrugged in boredom, "Really… Even Sakura was more entertaining than you." He truly meant it, Sakura showed a great deal of potential. It was actually a wonder how nobody spotted it sooner. On the other hand, this kid seemed to be all talk with nothing to show for it. The idea of taking out his Ichi Ichi Paradise was beginning to sound rather tempting.

Meanwhile, Naruto twitched from where he landed and gave a smirk, "So you would admit to getting beat up by a girl?"

Kakashi raised his brow in mild annoyance. If this is how the boy was really going to act it was not going to be worth his time. In fact, he was beginning to get thoughts on ways to embarrass the blonde before him.

After all it didn't do to have such a pompous brat walking around. A plethora of ideas whirled through his mind. Finally, he whittled it down to one of his particular favorites. He gave a chilling smile behind his mask. There would be no harm in giving the boy a taste of humiliation.

As if sensing something was amiss, Naruto tensed. He did not like the sudden silence that once again pervaded the area. When Kakashi was silent, it did not bode well. He quickly took a couple of kunai and threw them straight at the strangely subdued sensei. Kakashi, once again, dodged all of them with relative ease.

As Naruto continued to throw his artillery at the sensei, he noticed a growing glint in Kakashi's eyes. There was no doubt that the silver-haired man had settled on something that would lead to his demise. This thought only caused him to renew his efforts even more. He needed to prolong it for a while longer. It was still too soon for Naruto to continue the next part.

Weapon after weapon, were aimed at the sensei, but all were carelessly deflected to the ground around him. Soon the surrounding area resembled a sea of weapons, with the two combatants in the middle as Naruto approached closer for hand to hand combat. It was a wonder that Naruto still had any weapons left. By the time the blonde ran out of throwing items, he was trying with all his might to harm his teacher, integrating hand combat techniques throughout the whole fight. But alas, after but a couple of minutes, the blonde was suddenly hit with a wave of exhaustion. The blonde gave an internal swear as he found himself breathing heavily. Where was his never ending stamina? Did it no longer exist at all?

He was sorely tempted to put all the blame on the stupid fox that inhabited his mind. At that thought, an annoyed growl resounded through his head, clearly indicating the great fox's opinion.

When Naruto tried to land another punch on his sensei, he was met with a cloud of smoke. "Shoot!" yelled Naruto, looking every bit a frustrated genin frantically looking around for the missing sensei. How could he have let the man slip away like that!

"You really should be more careful of your surroundings." commented a voice behind the blonde, Kakashi. Naruto only flashed a smirk that was unseen by the sensei.

Kakashi, unaware of the change in demeanor of the blonde continued, "Maybe if you gave your plan a bit more thought, it wouldn't come down to this."

With that said Kakashi formed a hand seal and aimed for the poor blonde's behind, "Thousand years of Pain!!"

However, this time, it was Kakashi who was met with a cloud of smoke. It was a shadow clone. Kakashi had the look of a stunned fish. What in the world? When was this switch implemented and how did he not taken heed?

Meanwhile, a laughter that belonged to yours truly resounded through the area, "Now who's the one who should be more careful?"

Kakashi looked around frantically. Try as he might, he just simply couldn't find Naruto's location. Whatever technique the blonde was using was definitely working. In his sole aim of pinpointing the genin, he failed to notice that for a split second, the weapons on the ground around him flicker into paper before quickly turning back into weapons. Where did the kid go?

Naruto continued with relish, glee evident in his voice, "You, Kakashi sensei should never underestimate anybody, especially Konoha's number one prankster!"

As Kakashi continued to look around, he was suddenly aware of a suspicious crackling noise. He frowned and looked for the source of the sounds. It seemed like it was coming from the weapons. He looked down only to see the weapons change into paper and light up. Explosive tags. Shit.

Before Kakashi could even voice his dread, he was completely enveloped in a multitude of mini bomb explosions. A resounding BOOM shook the area, sending roosting birds into the air in alarm.

In another part of the test area, Sasuke and Sakura looked up in time to see the cloud of birds taking flight chased by the rising smoke. It was from where their team mate and sensei were situated. They traded looks of amusement. So that was what he meant when Naruto said he wanted to finish everything with a bang. They didn't think that he would take it so literally. Nevertheless it was an indication that it was time to move in.

Sakura gave a small grin while Sasuke only smirked before the two silently made way towards the sight. It was time to end this. Their sensei was not going to get away this time.

When the two teammates arrived to the smoky site, they found Naruto standing at the outer edge of the explosion. He raised a tense hand, signaling them to spread out but wait. They did not question his action and slowly moved to form a triangular shape around the smoky area.

Naruto squinted through the smoke before making a quick comment through the link, '**He finally got serious; activated his sharingan at the last moment. I think he finally cracked.**' Sakura and Sasuke both raised their brow in amusement. The fact that they had pushed their sensei to that point was already a partial success.

Suddenly, they heard a rustle causing them all to tense. Naruto gave a small frown, '**Remember, stick with the plan. And be careful.'**

They all readied themselves and slowly moved towards the source of the rustle. As the remnant smoke of the explosion cleared, they found that Kakashi was no longer standing at the center. Sasuke, who was first to spot this, gave a small curse and gestured for them to spread out. The three quickly turned outwards and looked for any signs of movement. It was now or never.

"There!" shouted Sakura, moving towards some trees at her left. Sasuke, being the closest to their sensei, moved quickly to intercept Kakashi. The two engaged in a fiery dance of punches and kicks. But it was evident that Sasuke was on the losing side of the fight.

Sakura soon arrived as well, adding her onslaught of punches, all which were chakra enforced. Clearly Kakashi was not expecting such a double teaming for he faltered for a moment. However that moment was fleeting at best.

Now it seemed that both sides were even, though it still seemed like Kakashi had the upper hand. His experience with close combat was what was keeping him on top. He found the experience very strange. The two genin were working in perfect tandem. There were no wasted actions; their fluid movements screamed that they were completely at ease with working as partners. It was like they knew what the other was going to do and were quick to either supported or attacked depending on solely on the actions. If he hadn't known better, he would have thought these two were greatly experienced fighters that were on par with Chunins.

It was hard to think of anything else but stopping them. His guts told him that if he stopped for one moment, he would suffer greatly. Just as he managed to halt both Sakura's and Sasuke's movements, a yellow blur raced to his side. Before Kakashi could react, the bells were deftly plucked from his possession.

The moment Sakura and Sasuke saw they both ceased their onslaught and moved away from their sensei to stand near their teammate. It was Naruto who had grabbed the bells. Kakashi could only gape as he began to realize what had happened to him. He had been had.

Naruto pumped his fist into the air in success, the bells tinkling as they flashed in his fist. "Yes! We got the bells!" Sakura and Sasuke traded looks of satisfaction at their accomplishment. Success. Naruto gave Kakashi a cheeky grin, "And we finished just in time too." True to his words, a distant ring from the alarm clock sounded through the testing area.

Kakashi raised his brow in amusement, how coincidental. He had to commend these three. They were the first team that he had that even got anywhere near harming him. To top it off, they got the bells without seemingly much effort at all. He had to say that he was definitely shocked by the three and how they conducted themselves. He was beginning to find that that the longer he stayed with them the more intrigued he became with this unique team.

Kakashi clapped for the team's success "Congratulations, Naruto. But now you will have to choose between your two teammates. One of them will need to go back to the academy and two will stay. You only have two bells."

Naruto gave a small frown as he looked at Sasuke and Sakura, before replying, "Fine. I want to give it to the both them."

Kakashi's eyebrows shot up in surprise.

"Did I just hear you right?" asked Kakashi, not bothering to hide his shock.

Naruto gave a huff of annoyance and glared at Kakashi's clear disbelief. But really, Kakashi had expected Naruto to keep one bell for himself and give one to Sakura or Sasuke. Instead, the blonde selflessly gave them up to his teammate. Another strange move.

"Are you sure you want to give up this chance? You do realize you would have to restart the whole term." asked Kakashi, disbelief still coloring his voice. He was curious as to what the boy would say.

Naruto nodded, unfazed by his choice "I couldn't have gotten the bells if it weren't for Sakura-chan and Sasuke being there to keep you occupied. Plus, you had your guard down for the majority of the time, so I guess we were lucky in that sense. I'll have no problems with going back to the school but I think from what we've seen today, that the three of us work better as a team."

Kakashi could not help but chuckle in amusement. That point of view was true and well said. Many teams that had taken this test would have realized this only when they returned back to the school. By then it was already too late.

Naruto continued, "Anyway, we found out that the whole point of this test was whether we could work together. I mean, who would be stupid enough to give a test with only two bells, when genin's are usually put in three man cells?"

"In theory a team of three genin could overpower one Jonin." Sakura added in a matter of fact tone. Sasuke nodded his agreement, clearly looking bored with the proceedings.

Kakashi looked at the three suspiciously "So you guys already knew the whole point of the test before it even started didn't you?"

Naruto shrugged and scratched his head, "We... overheard it from some people and thought it was strange to have a test with such stakes. We talked about it and decided to come up with a plan to get the bells from you."

Kakashi started, and then everything fell into place. He fell into their trap. They had let him assume that they were not on friendly terms and they had expected him to go after them one by one, knowing that his guard was down, and that he would not be serious.

They used this to their advantage and he took bait without a fight. The plan was to tire him out with small attacks and then one final attack. No wonder he tired so easily when Sakura and Sasuke double teamed on him. This was all planned and he went right along with it blindly, always thinking that he had the advantage. But this did not explain how they were able to work together so effortlessly and so comfortably at that.

"So you all knew the meaning of this task?" said Kakashi, observing them closely. Team 7 nodded in unison.

Sakura crossed her arms and assumed a lecturing tone, "When we overheard it, it seemed rather strange that there were only two bells instead of three. But that was to get us to work alone instead of with each other, right? Plus, it is supposedly impossible for a genin to defeat a Jonin by him/her self. So we pieced it all together and decided it was better to fight you together. The whole point of this test was to test our compatibility with one another and to see if we can depend on each other."

So they understood…Kakashi was stunned but he quickly hid it with a genuine smile, "Well I have to say, you guys are one very interesting team. You all…pass. I have to admit, I was surprised by your plans and I have to admit that I fell for it. But I am pleased that you were able to piece all of this together." Sakura and Naruto cheered while Sasuke gave a small smile of triumph.

"By the way, I am curious to know. Where did you guys hear about this test?" Kakashi asked in mild curiosity. Naruto shrugged and gave a small smirk, "A ninja never tells his secrets."

Kakashi raised his brow in amusement. He would let it drop…for now. In the mean time he looked at his attire which was sorely in need of a washing, "Hmm. I think I'll go home and have a nice long shower."

At this both Naruto and Sakura broke out into a peal of laughter and even Sasuke let out a few chuckles as they took in the state of what their handiwork had amounted to. Kakashi allowed himself a small laugh before dismissing his three new students. With the dismissal, the man made his mandatory trek to the Hokage's Tower to give his news. He was certainly interested to see where this was going to head to.

Meanwhile, Sakura eyed her yellowed hair teammate with a mild glare, "So it just so happened that 'We...overheard it from some people'. What possessed you into saying that!?"

Naruto shrugged, "Well I can't say that we already took the test before. Anyway we did really well so that's a good sign!"

Sakura gave a sigh of annoyance, "Naruto..."

"Whhaaat!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes and made a move to leave, "If you guys are going to continue talking nonsense, then I see no reason for me to stick around. I am heading back."

"Hey! Wait up!"

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You must Comment and Critiques! :x Kidding, kidding. I hope you guys enjoyed and look forward to the next chapter. xD


	8. Wave Arc I

I am sorry for the long wait. I apologize. ". Anyway, enjoy the next installment. =D Have a nice read~! There are probably grammatical errors...that will be fixed eventually...

Also Thank you all who reviewed. I'm glad you enjoyed it and if you didn't i hope this one will satisfy you!

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"-Bzz-Target spotted… I think it spotted you Naruto, You better hurry…"

"Roger that, I'm moving in. Wish me luck-Bzz"

"Better hope you get out alive."

"Mweoear!" the victim yelp as two hands enclosed around its body, barring it from escape. It was so close!

"Bzz- Target captured, Mission completed-OWW! That stupid thing bit me! AGAIN!"

"Hn...What a waste of time...There are much more productive things to do then this demeaning job -Bzz."

"-Now, now, children, there's nothing we can do about it." Kakashi chided, as he and the rest of Team 7 arrived on the scene. Naruto had managed to tie up all four of his prisoner's legs, but his face and arms sported another batch of bite marks and scratches that clearly showed a valiant fight for freedom. Naruto only glared at the thing with clear dislike. It was that dreadful cat that belonged to the feudal lords' wife. Today was but another gallant but futile attempt at escape.

"I believe that this is the fastest we ever caught the stupid cat. Damn thing, I swear it's a spawn of a demon." muttered Naruto in clear distaste, as he continued to glare at their mission target. Sasuke merely eyed it with disdain bordered on hate for Naruto was no alone in his sentiment.

Sakura simply sighed before picking up the cat from the ground, breaking its bonds, much to the cats' relief. Naruto could only sigh before dully taking inventory of his wounds.

Sasuke took this moment to express his displeasure to their gray haired sensei, "This is a waste of time. How many times did the stupid thing run away? 10? 20?" He, like Naruto, had also had a nasty run through with the cat and wasn't too keen on being near it and would have gladly dropped it from the top of the Hokage tower if given a chance.

"You guys are too mean." complained Sakura as she scratch behind the cat's ear, producing a content purr, "Look, it's so adorable!"

"Just because it looks cute doesn't mean we have to be nice to it. That thing hates us just as much as we hate it!" Naruto shot back in annoyance. He had a total of six scratches and two bite marks solely on his face. He was definitely not pleased with this outcome.

After the first time they were assigned to this mission, Naruto always stayed as far away as he could from the devilish cat. The only time he would voluntarily go near it, was when it was his turn to catch it. Yet, no matter how he tried to seize it, the cat always managed to land a blow on him, whether it was a scratch or a bite, or in this case, both. It seemed that Sasuke was also a victim to the cat's claws and teeth as he too was accosted with bites and scratches. It was only Sakura who had no problems catching the cat. She had yet to get any wounds and if anything, it seemed as if the cat also developed a fondness for the pink haired genin.

"Seriously, why don't you guys like him? I think that he's rather cute, a little bit on the plump side, but cute!" cooed Sakura, before cuddling with the cat.

Naruto rolled his eyes in annoyance as he got up from the ground, "Might I remind you that we have a resident who doesn't like kitties?" asked Naruto tapping his head.

Sakura looked at him in confusion before she realized just who Naruto was referring to. "Well, it's not like it's going to hurt the 'resident' in anyway." replied Sakura with a huff.

Sasuke and Kakashi having been completely engrossed in discussion technique, soon ended their talk in favor of returning to Konoha.

Sasuke watched the two continue to argue about the cat, before his eye twitched in annoyance, "If you guys are done arguing, let's get back. The faster we are done with this, the faster we can go back to training." Sasuke bluntly stated.

"You've got to be kidding me! That's all we've been doing for the past couple of weeks! ", complained Naruto. He was still aching from the other day. Somehow, Sakura managed to land a punch on him, knocking him back a good couple of yards. It still hurt like hell even after she mended most of the damage.

"Are you getting frightened? Did that hit that Sakura land on you scare you that much?" shot Sasuke with a smirk.

Naruto let out a growl, "TEME! You-!"

"Will the both of you two just SHUT UP?" shouted Sakura in annoyance. If looks could kill, Naruto and Sasuke would have been to hell and back. The cat in Sakura's hand visibly shrunk in fright.

"Yes ma'am." They muttered in mock salute, though they still shot annoyed glances at each other.

Sakura rolled her eyes before smirking, "Good, because I wouldn't want to beat you guys to a pulp."

The two male genin winced, as past experiences drifted unwontedly into their minds. Training with Sakura had its ups and downs, sure she was specializing in medical techniques and her ability to heal was an extra plus. But, when she decided to use her monstrous strength, one hit could easily land one of them in the hospital if not blocked or avoided in time. Though it was a good thing that her reflexes were improving, it just made it all the more dangerous for the two genin.

After the bell test, the three agreed to create a training schedule that would best help them improve. It was a complete given that they all began wearing adjustable weights, absolutely necessary. It was then agreed upon that Sakura needed to build up more stamina and chakra, as well as increasing her speed. It was a daily routine to have both Naruto and Sasuke spar with her. The handicap allowed her to work on gaining a faster reaction to dodging and learning to time her attacks to be more fatal and effective.

Naruto, who had problems with controlling his chakra, was often found working sideways on trees and still water. Since he had a better understanding as opposed to his first attempts, he had an easier time grasping the concepts, though he probably needed a good deal more of work to get anywhere near Sakura's level of precision.

Sasuke simply worked on opening his sharingan bloodline. It was only the other day that he was able to activate it after a particularly rough fight with Naruto. Kakashi was greatly surprised by the development. Thankfully, he only brushed it off as pure luck, not that the genin were going to complain.

Surprisingly, Kakashi had decided to aid in their training. Perhaps it was their motivation or the fact that they acted unlike many kids at their age. Nevertheless, Kakashi had actually taken time to oversee their drills. Though he was initially shocked when he first found out that the three had devised such a routine, he was pleased by their determination.

When he asked why they were trying so hard, it was Naruto who answered for the whole team, "We know that we are only genin and we have ways to go if we want to become dependable ninjas. If we can't do this simple training then we aren't competent enough to protect ourselves and those that are precious to us."

Kakashi had to admit that the team was a lot more determined than some Chunin he knew, actually a lot of the Chunin he knew. He was pleased that they understood the amount of work that they needed to put in, that strength did not come from just waiting. He often pointed out adjustments to help improve their mobility and attacks. And before he knew it he was coerced into teaching them techniques that he would have never considered teaching until they were older. There was no peep of complaints when things proved to be difficult. If they came across a particular obstacle, they would ram at it until it came crashing down, sometimes to the point of exhaustion.

It was only two weeks ago that he had them do some drills that he had initially devised for beginning Anbu ninjas. One particular one was walking on rapidly moving waters that led to a waterfall. To his sadistic pleasure and to their immense displeasure, they were dunked in a few times before they got the hang of it. The moving waters made it no easy task to get back up. At one point, Naruto was almost became a victim of the cascading waters, but was luckily able to get on top of the currents, a narrow escape. That day of training was certainly not a pleasant memory to dwell upon. Much to their dismay, Kakashi then suggested that they conduct all their training routines while staying atop the moving water.

Let's just say, that it was not pretty and for many days, Team 7 was usually found cursing their teacher and his sadistic streak. For Kakashi it was payback for the bell exam and it soothed his wounded pride just a little bit. But, all in all, he was proud of his team.

They were all good at adapting and were becoming more adept at picking up techniques. However, this brought up questions such as how they were so mentally prepared and why they were so determined. Sure they said that they were doing it to get stronger to protect people, but who were these people? And why was it that sometimes a feeling of desperation was exuded in the way they trained? They were also a hell of a lot more mature and understanding then their school reports implied.

"OWW! That stupid cat BIT me again!" shout Naruto in anger while nursing his wound.

"Well it's your fault for trying to attach an explosive tag on it!" yelled Sakura in annoyance.

"Come on it was only a joke, it's not like it's going to die~!" whined Naruto.

"This is stupid...Just kill it and be done with the thing." muttered Sasuke, rolling his eyes.

…Well, so much for being more mature. Kakashi bit back the urge to sigh at his students. "Alright you three, let's get back and give in this mission."

Ten minutes later at the Hokage tower, Team 7 watched with a mixture of amusement, mortification, as well as a bit of pity as their target reunited with its owner. The feline was getting the life squeezed out of it as the feudal lords' wife clung to it like a doll. Some Chunin that were standing by the side winced as they watched what the cat suffered through. They, themselves remembered the times where they too had to retrieve the feline. It seemed that the wife had yet to change her habits.

"Oh my poor wittle bwaby kitty! Did you get hurt out there in the sqwwarrry foresst? I missed you SO much!" she cooed at the cat before enveloping it in another hug. The cat gave a painful yowl and began clawing at its mistress. However, it seemed as if it had no effect on her as she calmly dropped the payment and left the room all the while squeezing the cat.

With the duo gone, the room descended into an awkward silence. "You know, every time I see that, I can't help but to feel sorry for that lil' fella…even if it's a pain in the ass" said Naruto before turning to face the people before him. Sitting at a table was the Third Hokage, saddled with two Chunin who were flipping through reports.

Said Hokage chuckled quietly at the blonde's comment before looking through the folders that lay before him. "Well, there is no help around that. It seems you guys have completed another mission. I believe I have a mission where some shop owners need help organizing a-"

"No, oji-san" Naruto interrupted in a testy tone, plainly unsatisfied with the choice of mission.

"Hey kid, don't go disrespecting the Hokage like that!" sneered one of the Chunin who sat alongside the old man. Clearly this man was one of the many people who despised the blonde. There was a mummer of dissent that rumbled through the room as glares were aimed at the blonde. However, Naruto pointedly ignore the genin and the glares, favoring only the old man who had just lit his pipe.

"I, no we all, want to do more advanced missions then these meaningless ones that even grade school students can do." complained Naruto. He was really getting tired of being assigned to hunting for the cat every other day. "We probably completed enough of these low rank missions to equal two teams worth combined. Actually, scratch that, we surpassed that amount weeks ago."

"Are you sure you and your teammates are up for it?" asked the Third Hokage, a small smile on his lips.

"Hell yes, Old man! We all want to do a harder mission! As a team, we can get any mission you throw at us and come back with absolute success!" replied Naruto, a confident smirk on his face.

The Hokage looked slightly surprised at the mention of team, but the rest of the people excluding Team 7 looked on in annoyance and barely concealed dislike. Seriously, this kid was talking way too big for his own good. Well it was obvious the brat would be so supercilious. After all, the blonde was the holder of the demon.

Hokage noticed the sudden sour air could not help sigh in mild disappointment. Something had to be done about this blind hatred. However, regardless of what those Chunin thought of the blonde, the team had really done an outstanding job as they have surpassed the necessary quota by a good amount. He was not about to let the deed go unnoticed. The team deserved a chance. "Alright, I do not mind giving you a higher leveled mission, but it will be based on one condition." The three genin traded confused glances. What did he mean by that?

The Hokage continued, "I would like to see the three of you explain to me the concept of the ranked missions. Keep in mind that you all have to contribute and be sure to include details. Mind you, I expect that each of you provide me with at least one different type of rank."

Sure, it was not a hard task to complete, however, the Hokage was curious to see how they would react, especially Naruto. Everybody, in the room knew that Naruto was in the lowest rung when it concerned academic topics. Some of the Chunin smirked. The blonde was going to screw up. They were sure.

Team 7 blinked in unison and traded surprised glances. Since when did they ever have to do such a thing as this?

'**Was this supposed to be funny? Cause' I don't see the funny in this…**' thought Naruto indignantly. He already figured that the old man was going to challenge him with something but what the heck was this! He was actually offended.

'I **believe he is trying to teach us the concept that ****a ninja must be both mental and physically honed.**' replied Sakura in an airy tone. **'Remember we're genin. If I remember correctly genin are only taught mission rank D to rank A. That's only four, unless we decide to talk about **_**those **_**ranks…'**

Naruto rolled his eyes **'Well, then. We'll just have to prove that we aren't stupid.'**

'**Someone just start speaking...' **commented Sasuke, all the while watching the Chunin like a raven that had just spotted a tasty morsel. They looked like they were waiting to for the opportunity of seeing the team fail. He wouldn't actually mind testing how he faired against them…if they were to decide to get physical. Hell, he could probably teach them a great deal more than what they could possible learn on their own.

Sakura gave an exaggerated sigh before beginning to speak, "Well Hokage-sama, the lowest rank is D. These missions are, considered by many, as dull work or basically useless common work. Some of the more prominent missions include ones like saving an animal, taking out the garbage, planting, or other task of that nature. Genin who want to be Chunin must complete at least 8 of these missions. I would like to add that, we completely pasted that point."

She gave a small glare at the Chunin before her as she paused to take in some breath. Many of them were looking at her in mild surprise, which only served to annoy her ever the more. Did they think she lacked intellect? The nerve!

The Hokage on the other hand, chuckled. He had gone over the reports concerning all the team that passes. It was clearly evident in the papers that she was the top in the class academically. If anything, he was surprised by the attitude that she was now portraying. Iruka had told him that even though the girl was smart, she was usually rather timid unless it concerned the Sasuke boy.

Seeing that she had not provoked the slightest twitch from the Hokage, Sakura continued in a more clipped tone, "Next there is the C ranked missions. These are mostly taken by Chunin. These missions consist of assignments related to protecting travelers or delivering important documents. Genin who take these missions are sometimes liable to death though I feel that that is beside the point. One cannot learn and grow more experienced if he/she is always protected."

"So it seems you have a grasp on the basics then. Well done." said the Hokage in amusement, "But I asked all three of you contribute something. The two males of the team have yet to add their part to the discussion."

Naruto fought the urge to once again roll his eyes, "Stop being so impatient, oji-san. We were not done yet."

Another murmur of outrage came from the Chunin at the disrespect the boy showed. The Hokage was half tempted to roll his eyes be only beckoned the three of the genin to continue with their talk.

Sasuke picked up from where Sakura left off droning in a monotonous voice, "The next after this is B ranked missions. The difficulty is a lot higher than that of C ranked missions. Most B ranked missions involve retrieving important documents or protecting someone and taking them to a certain location. For these missions, it is mostly Jounin or Chuunin ranked ninjas who perform these assignments. After that are ranked A missions. These missions are significantly more dangerous. Ninjas ranked as Jounin or higher are usually assigned for these tasks. Rank A missions are extremely risky and the possibility of a death or severe injury is always there."

There was a moment of silence. This was the most he ever spoke and rather unsettling. The raven haired genin simply glared at the people before him, as if daring them to make a comment.

The Hokage cleared his throat. "…I see you seem to grasp the whole concept, but I'm disappointed that Naruto didn't add anything." said the Hokage all the while taking a draft from his pipe. Many of the Chunin smirked at the failure, though there was no sign of distress from the team. Kakashi had yet to even raise his eyes from his book.

As the sandaime reached for a D rank folder, a sharp voice cut through the room, "Hokage-sama, who said we ever finished?" Everyone looked at the speaker in shock. It was Naruto. Naruto was NEVER formal to the Hokage. What in the world was going on?

The Hokage chuckled at his antics, "Very well, Naruto, if you have something to add, then I'll give you the C rank mission that I have right here." He pulled out a folder from the pile and placed it down on the table.

Naruto smirked in glee, "All right then. I believe that we have one more rank that was not covered."

Many of them wondered…did this kid really know or was he simply bluffing?

Undaunted, Naruto continued, a smirk evident on his face, "The last rank would be the S ranked missions. These are normally taken by Anbu, who are…the secret force of ninjas that…protect Konoha. Sometimes there are Kages who also participate in these missions. These missions are highly dangerous and can range from assassinations to "information gathering" or spying…I do believe that is the basic outline of those missions."

Dead silence greeted him. He looked around the room and raised his brow at the reactions of many Chunin. "What? Surprised that I actually know something…? I'm not that stupid of a fool that I remain ignorant to the information around me." He huffily said crossing his arms, daring someone to counteract his comment.

"They didn't think an idiot like you would know that though. Remember, you're grades were abysmal" muttered Sasuke.

Naruto glared at his teammate in annoyance, "Hey! Who's side are you on?"

The Hokage could not help but to outright chuckle, "Well this was a rather unexpected turn. Good job, I did not expect you to know that tidbit of information. But, as I promised, I'll give you the mission. You will escort this bridge builder, Tazuna back to his home village."

A Chunin quickly left, only to return with an old man with a bottle of sake. The man, Tazuna, leaned against the wall and stared at his soon to be escorts. He took a sip from his bottle before he drawled, "Is this all you're giving me, one adult and three pip-squeaked brats? I thought I asked for proper escorts."

Three shuriken went flying before anybody could make a simple comment. Each landed on the wall behind the man, only a millimeter shy of it's target. The fact at how deeply wedging deeply into the wood showed the power and speed at which the projectiles were launched at. There was a tense silence as the carpenter could only stare in shock.

It was Sasuke who broke the silence, eyeing the sake bearer with a piercing gaze, "Don't misjudge us. We were assigned to protect you and that's what we'll do."

Sakura continued, an innocent grin belied her cold emerald stare, "Don't underestimate us 'brats' for we are more than a match for you."

Naruto raised his brow but made no comment. Instead he strolled to the wall to retrieve the weapons that he had thrown. He had no need to speak as his two teammates simply said it all.

Kakashi, who surprisingly did not yell at any of them, calmly flipped through his book and gave a small giggle before marking a page. He closed the book with a small thump and beckoned his students towards the door, "I guess it's time for us to pack then. Hokage-sama, we accept the mission. I will meet you guys at the gate in an hour."

Team 7 nodded in unison before leaving the room. Once outside, the people in the office could hear the shouts of two boys and the laughter of a girl as the three ran to get ready. Kakashi, who remained behind to receive the report, looked Tazuna who had yet to move from his position, "You really shouldn't underestimate them. They are really strong and can hold their own. Come, We are all going to meet at the gate."

Tazuna only shook his head in disbelief before taking a huge gulp from his gourd. He then followed Kakashi out. With the dissaperance of the two men, the room broke into a hive of noise. What in the world happened?

The Hokage had a thoughtful look on his face. Team 7 was definitely more different from when they were first together. Those reports were now nowhere near accurate.

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Feel free to comment or critique. =D I hope you had an enjoyable read. [M' going to try to update everything faster =D hopefully. rawr]


	9. Wave Arc II

Sorry for the late update. I have been busy with work and getting ready for college D: Thank you all for reviewing! I hope you enjoy the next installment!

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"Well, at least we didn't miss this." offered Naruto to his teammates as they waited for Tazuna and Kakashi to arrive to the meet point.

Sakura only rolled her eyes, "We're lucky that we got the mission." dismissed the girl as she adjusted her pack strap.

Sasuke looked up from a weaponry scroll he was reading, "I highly doubt that luck is going to do us any good. Sooner or later, we will miss something important."

Naruto gave a frustrated sigh, "I know we royally screwed up. But we need to make sure this doesn't happen again. Ever"

"How can we do that?" questioned Sakura "We barely, well I, barely remember what happened. It's been so long…"

Sasuke gave a small nod of agreement, "The only thing I recall was the time I left Konoha, and even that, is hazy at best."

Naruto just sighed and promptly dropped on to the ground. "We all have forgotten haven't we?" He was met with complete silence.

Half an hour later, Kakashi and Tazuna appeared and they were most definitely late. Naruto was clearly in no mood for an explanation, "So, Kakashi, what was it this time? Saving a child? Getting lost on the road to life? Reading that lecherous book of yours? Seeing a black cat and walking around?" fumed the blonde in annoyance.

The other two genin seemed to share similar opinions as the both only glared at their sensei.

Kakashi only shrugged, "Well since you seem to know me so well, I guess we can just skip the routine and go."

Tazuna only looked around in confusion before taking a swig from his bottle. Inwardly the old man could not help but wonder if he was going to get out of this alive.

It was a silent walk. The only things that could be heard were the crunching of feet stepping on dead leaves and gravel. Tazuna for the most part kept to himself and Kakashi gave nary a peep as he was too absorbed in his book. The three genin were surprisingly quiet as well, walking a head of the two adults.

However, even though it was a silent walk, the three genin were nowhere near as quiet internally. **"I think there was an earlier incident before we met with Zabuza" **thought Sakura, a small frown on her face. She could not recall what exactly.

"**That would be?" **asked Sasuke as he looked around for any signs of abnormalities.

"**Ah! Maybe it's something normal that we ignored last time. How about a tree?"** suggested Naruto

Sakura shot a withering glare at the blonde. Said blonde only shrugged, "**I was just saying."**

Suddenly, Sasuke honed his sights to the ground, **"Wait, I think I know what it was. It was a puddle that they jumped out from. I remember Kakashi was minced right after he passed by it, well his clone was."**

"**Who were they again?" **asked Naruto with a frown as he too began to recall the incident.

"**The Demon Brothers, I believe," **muttered Sakura.

Naruto furrowed his brows, **"We need to be careful. I'm sure Kakashi will keep a close eye on Tazuna so that gives us more leeway to look around for any puddles."**

Sasuke and Sakura gave a small nod. They had some business to take care of.

Meanwhile, Kakashi was in deep in thought. It was not about the book he held but his team. At first, Kakashi had simply dismissed that his genin were just really focused and determined kids. However as time passed, there would be moments when they acted more like teenagers or adults than kids. It was strange. They took training to a whole new level. They went at everything he tossed them with a refreshing vigor that he had long thought to be a thing of the past. Mind you they still had a lot of training to go through before they could even think of defeating him one on one.

Plus, the way they interacted. It was a strange phenomenon. Initially, when he tested them, he couldn't help but admire they way they conducted their plan working almost perfect tandem. It was as if they were one mind, each knowing when to go. Contrary to the reports, they seemed to be really close to each other, more than just mere classmates. But considering the fact that they were only placed together a while ago, it seemed impossible that they could develop such a tight knitted bond. It takes months if not years to create such a partnership.

Something else he noticed was that it always seem like there was a silent conversation going on; something that he was not aware of. There would always be certain lapses of silence that seemed strangely out of place. Like what was happening now. Kakashi could not help but wonder just what this team was hiding as he absently flipped to the next page of his book. Shaking his head Kakashi dove deeper into his beloved book and soon was giggling insanely. Everyone else made no comment but discreetly moved away.

Sakura and Sasuke moved up next to Naruto and they walked a bit farther. To anyone else, it would have seemed like they were scouting ahead of the group, but their faces told a different story. They needed to nail some targets. Naruto was first to notice it before give a small gesture towards what he saw. There was a small chakra pulse emanating from the small puddle. Kakashi who had noticed the trade in signals raised his brow but did not bother to stop them.

The pink-haired girl casually walked towards the puddle. Just as she passed the liquid, she plunged her fist straight into the ground creating a huge crash. Tazuna yelped in surprise at the sudden quake, whereas the rest of team 7 stood in a fighting stance, surrounding their client. Sakura backed up towards the group, body posed to fend off anything that might come out. But nothing happened. Kakashi frowned before shrugging, "False alarm; but nice job. Let's get moving."

Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto were confused… What in the world was going on? They were sure that the demon brothers were in that puddle. However, they all continued to walk, tense and guarded. This stance paid off as mere moments later, trouble appeared.

Sasuke looked to his side in time to see. "Duck!" he yelled before pulling Tazuna, who was the closest to him, down.

Everyone else dropped to the ground; they were just in time. A small distance in front of them was a humongous sword wedged deeply into a tree. Standing on the sword was a man whos lower face was wrapped with bandages. "Well, well, well, what do we have here?" said the man, malice thick in his tone.

Kakashi cursed profusely in his mind. Why did it have to be him, of all people? He had a funny feeling that something bad was going to happen, but to this extreme? Why did those first missions always end up dangerous? Kakashi had seen this man in the bingo books and if he remembered correctly, this man was from Kirigakure, the "Demon of The Mist" Zabuza Momochi.

"What do they think they are doing…sending only kids and one adult." Zabuza sneered maliciously.

"What do you want?" demanded Kakashi as he eyed the man warily.

"I have a mission to complete. I suggest you all leave and let your client stay if you fear for your lives," replied the swordsman. With that said a mist slowly enveloped the whole area leaving a blank field.

Kakashi was worried…He was pretty sure that he could defeat Zabuza by himself, but he had a nagging feeling that there was something else amidst. Moments before, he had felt faint chakra signals, multiple ones. "And if I were to refuse?" asked Kakashi.

Zabuza smirked, "Well then, you just better hope they don't die."

"Why do you need him?" retorted Kakashi

Zabuza shook his head and smirked, "Now that would be telling" said Zabuza.

Kakashi glared "So be it. Sasuke, Naruto, Sakura! Protect Tazuna! I'll take care of Zabuza." ordered Kakashi. The three quickly complied, surrounding Tazuna. None of them showed any speck of panic; they simply waited for any signs attacks. Once again Kakashi was glad and surprised by the way they acted. At least they weren't incompetent like most genin were at this point, completely frozen.

"Are you trying to be funny Copycat Kakashi? Are you sure three genin will hold up against me?" sneered Zabuza through the mist.

Kakashi did not answer; instead he took the initiative, attacking the swordsman. As they traded blows, Zabuza was quick to make some seals, "Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu". Ten doppelgangers of the man appeared and ran straight for their targets.

Kakashi cursed as Zabuza blocked him from moving to help his students. Internally, Kakashi hoped that all their practice would pay off.

Meanwhile Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura got ready to face off the oncoming bunshin. "How bout best out of four?" suggested Naruto as he readied himself for the fight.

Sasuke smirked "Keep dreaming dobe."

"You two are such idiots," said Sakura with a sigh.

Tazuna looked at the kids in front of him in shock. Shouldn't they be more scared? The three were treating this like a game. Did they not realize just who they were up against?

Naruto gave a grin, "Start." Just as the bunshin approached them, the genin charged, various weapons in hand. The bunshin didn't stand a chance. Within minutes they were all annihilated.

"It's 4:3:3, my win!" said Naruto before smirking at his two team members. Said teammates were sporting various looks of annoyance. "You cheated didn't you? You used Kage bunshin." accused Sasuke with a glare.

Naruto shrugged "You never said I couldn't."

Sasuke made a rude gesture at the blonde. Sakura sighed and moved to stand near Tazuna, waiting for any other threats. Said man was a bit stunned by what he had just witnessed. Who were these genin?

The two adult ninjas stopped to watch the spectacle that was displayed. Zabuza was surprised. Not only did these brats defeat all his bunshin, but they were making it to a game. Clearly they were no ordinary kids. Meanwhile Kakashi gave a small internal sigh of relief.

"Those brats are something." Zabuza asked before launching in for another attack, catching the jonin unawares. Before Kakashi could react, he found himself encased in a bubble of water. Damn it!

Zabuza gave a piercing whistle. Team 7 looked to see their sensei captured and Zabuza smirking. Naruto and Sasuke traded looks were ready to attack when some things landed in front of them. Sebon needles! What in the- ?

The three looked at the needles in puzzlement. Three figures appeared, descending from the trees. **'****It's the two guys we missed before. They must have been analyzing us and waiting. Haku is here as well so I guess there will be a change in plans. How will we do this?****'** asked Sakura as she readied herself for battle once more.

"**Split them up. Naruto, you need to get Haku. Give him the offer." **replied Sasuke.

Zabuza sneered, unaware of the talk that was happening, "I repeat once again, Hand over the old man. You are all out numbered."

Naruto smirked, "In your dreams."

Zabuza grinned through his bandages. "I like your spirits brats but I have a job to complete." With that said, the three ninjas in front of Team 7 sprang into action.

"Sakura, Defend the old guy! Sasuke go help Kakashi." barked Naruto, as the two Demon brothers headed straight for Tazuna. Sakura quickly moved to intercept the two Chunin.

Sasuke raced to Kakashi's aid, intent on breaking that bubble of liquid. In the meantime Naruto found himself fighting Haku. Suddenly, Naruto whispered a question that caused Haku to freeze in surprise. "Why are you working for a man like Gato, Haku? You know you will be betrayed. You know what kind of a bastard that man is."

Had Haku's mask been off, Naruto would have seen the shocked face of the needle specialist. Naruto took this opportunity to knock the ninja back with a chakra infused punch. With this done, Naruto took this time to briefly assess what was going on.

Sakura seemed to have no problem holding off the two brothers. Had he had the time, he would have laughed at how ridiculous it looked. The two grown men were fighting a girl half their size and not gaining an inch. He turned just in time to see a big ball of fire envelope Zabuza, courtesy of Sasuke. There was a faint shout of surprise. Naruto returned his sights to his current opponent who was staggering up.

"How do you know who I am?" rasped Haku.

"I have my sources. I know a whole lot of things about you and your mentor." said Naruto. "I have a proposal to make."

Behind his mask, Haku was intrigued. "And what is this proposal?"

Naruto looked at Haku before replying. "I know you guys are on the run, but what if I could give you an opportunity to start all over again? Think of it as a second chance."

Haku scoffed, "What in the world are you talking about? That is impossible."

"Oh, but it is highly possible," said Naruto. There was no hint of jest or trickery in his eyes.

Haku hesitated, obviously torn by the offer when Zabuza called a retreat.

"Well Haku, we will meet again. Think about it. Whether you want to tell Zabuza is completely up to you." said Naruto. The blonde acted as if they were having a normal everyday conversation. Haku made no reply, instead going to follow the injured Zabuza and demon brothers. They disappeared as quickly as they appeared.

"So, what do you think he's going to do?" Sakura asked Naruto. The girl looked a tad bit worn as she inspected and healed the cuts and scrapes she received.

Naruto shrugged "It went alright… I suppose. I'm pretty sure that he's going to consider," replied Naruto, a pensive expression on his face. "Are you alright?"

Sakura nodded, "I just underestimated them a little. I think Sasuke's in trouble though."

The two turned to see Kakashi talking to, more like interrogating, Sasuke a little way off. Kakashi looked at Sasuke as if he had seen him the first time while Sasuke's face showed clear discomfort. After a moment, Kakashi shook his head and walked over to Tazuna, "Tazuna…we have a lot to discuss. Why are there assassins after you, a bridge builder?" Tazuna who seemed to be still recovering from the battle sighed.

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Sorry for the short chapter. Anyway feel free to comment and critique.


	10. Wave Arc III

New Chapter! Sorry for the wait~! I hope you guys enjoy it! Also thank you all for reviewing and reading. Hopefully, I can update soon, but it is mostly unlikely at the moment. Sorry. Anyway. Enjoy the next chapter! As to the errors, hopefully, i will get to correcting them! =x

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"Gato is the leader of the shipping company in Wave. But that is actually a front for smuggling illegal goods and dealing drugs. He took control of the Land of Waves' shipping routes and created a monopoly by isolating the country from the outside world. Many people have suffered, most losing their jobs… But if we can build he bridge then we might actually survive…So, please can you guys finish this mission?" Tazuna practically pleaded.

Kakashi looked torn between whether or not they should continue. He gave a sigh, "This was not reported…I think it is best that we should go back to Konoha to report this-.."

"Let's continue the mission," interrupted Naruto, a frown on his face, "We are already almost half-way through. Why stop now?"

Kakashi narrowed his eyes, "Naruto…"

"I won't go back Kakashi-sensei. It's against my code to do such a thing." Naruto interjected recklessly, looking as if going back was an insult. Inside, he was more worried about Haku and Zabuza. He had to make sure they would survive this time.

Kakashi looked irritated. "This is not your choice. I am the team leader. What if something happens to you and, you all are severely injured? What then? I am charged with your lives. I know you guys are talented, but the next time Zabuza comes he will have back up. What then?" said the jonin angrily, so unlike the normally nonchalant Kakashi.

The three time travelers were trying to hold back various degrees of shock. This was mainly because Kakashi was actually expressing so much emotion. Never had he really shown that he cared…well never openly: only subtly. What had changed this? Naruto's mind was racing….this was not expected.

**'Do something about this: We can't go back!'** thought Sakura shooting a look at Naruto.

Naruto shot the girl a glare before turning to his sensei, "I don't mean to disrespect your duties as a jonin and being our leader but I feel that we should continue." Naruto said calmly, though his eyes said otherwise.

"I think…No. I know that this will benefit us as a team. I know my limits and I am sure that Sasuke and Sakura know their limits as well. If you want us to back down then I understand," conceded Naruto.

Sakura widened her eyes as she traded a glance with Sasuke. Where was Naruto trying to get to with this?

Kakashi raised his brow as the blonde continued, "However, though we know that the position you're in now is delicate, I feel that continuing is a good idea. Not only can we develop more experience, we might also be able help this village. Like Tazuna said, it's in a bad shape. It's completely defenseless! Gato is killing innocent people! With our help, however small it is, they might have a better life! Think about how many people who suffered and those who still are. I refuse to let that continue to happen!" hissed Naruto in anger.

Tazuna were staring at Naruto like he had grown two heads while Kakashi was surprised. He could not wrap his head around it. How had Naruto changed so much in a matter of days? Where did this sudden drive come from? From what many people had said, Naruto at the academy was loud and much of a prankster. He had not a care for any one nor did he want to.

But what Kakashi was seeing right now was a whole different person. Sure, he still had that streak as a prankster which annoyed Kakashi to no end. Yet, the boy knew when to stop and be serious. In that sense, he seemed to be more grown up and mature. It was just like now; the way Naruto talked was something he would have never expected to come out from a genin, so filled with courage and compassion. The kid had the makings for being a leader. Plus the other two team member's reactions were also interesting.

They showed no surprise when Naruto took the lead. There was not a sound of protest that the blonde was speaking for them, just silent agreement. It was as if it were a normal occurrence. However, that couldn't be possible; the three only met a couple of weeks ago. Yet the more he looked at this the more it seemed that either the reports were completely fabricated or they did a good job hiding everything from the teachers.

But maybe the strangest thing of all was the fact that they all looked like they were carrying a burden, like they have experienced hardships. That couldn't be possible right; Maybe Sasuke, but certainly not Sakura. Yet why did they all have those haunted looks?

Flashback

The people lined in front of a towering monument, all dressed in black in the village of Suna. It had been a week since Konoha had been attacked by Akatsuki. The organization had grown profoundly, having legions of rouge ninjas at their disposal. Many villages had already fallen, completely overwhelmed by the forces. Konoha which was one of the last remaining villages was now also in ruins.

Originally, the plan was to evacuate all the people to Suna as it was heavily defended and well supplied. They had planned for the final battlegrounds to be in Konoha. The three were charged with taking the first group of villagers to Suna. When they arrived to the sand village, they were told of something that made each of them freeze upon sight. The plan was leaked. Somehow Akatsuki caught wind and led an ambush.

The attack was the most devastating blow in the whole war. It could not even count as a battle; it was a massacre. It was one of the harshest in the whole war. Only a miniscule amount of villagers survived; the ones that were already in Suna. Help had not arrived on time. When they arrived to the scene it was already too late. Though the people of Konoha that remained fought hard, there was only so much they could do against so much ninjas.

The once proud village was now stained red with the blood of its own inhabitants, lying lifelessly on the ground: mangled by weapons of the enemy. The faces of the Hokage were gone, blasted into ruins leaving only rubble. There were no survivors…even children and mothers, who were defenseless and powerless, were brutally killed. But topping it all; was the horrifying death of the Fifth Hokage. In just one day Konoha was annihilated, with over half of its ninja population death, and only ten percent of its villager's inhabitants remaining.

The monument that now stood in Suna listed all those dead. The remaining people stood in mourning. The silence lasted for what seemed like hours but merely minutes. Yet, no one wanted to speak. They were all losing hope and drowning in a growing hole of despair. Hinata was being held by Neji; she had lost her father and sister as well. She was not the only one as virtually all them, lost their dearly beloveds. Naruto, who was standing in front of the monument, turned around and looked at the crowd, an uncharacteristically solemn look on his face.

"We are all here today…to honor those that die." he began and faltered as his voice echoing out into the silent crowd. After a small pause he continued "Konoha has fallen. We all know that and there is no point going around it. BUT that does NOT mean we give up! WE are still alive. By us being alive, we show that Konoha is still alive and we still carry it in our hearts!"

Naruto paused looking through the crowd, some of them had lost some of the initial fear as they listened to the blonde speak, "We have a reason to fight back. Despair and sadness destroys us and tears us apart. WE must fight this as well as Akatsuki! I will fight for the one who have died! I swear on this monument that I will not stop till Akatsuki is destroyed. I will bring them down!"

He took a breath, before speaking softly. His voice carried through the silence. "I ask you all to cooperate with me to fight our enemy!" Sasuke and Sakura stood beside him, reinforcing the image. Soon they were joined by the rest of their friends and fellow ninjas. The people erupted into a cheer. Konoha was still alive and it would fight till their very last breath, whether they win or lose. Leading them would be the younger but equally strong generation. These people will be their ray of hope in their despair. And he, Naruto, would lead them to victory.

From then on, Naruto took the role as a leader along with Gaara and Shikamaru, planning out all the attacks and devising strategies. Sasuke formed a strike force with Shino, Kiba, Neji, and Lee. They took it upon themselves to train civilians to defend and fight. Sakura, Ino and Hinata led the hospital workforce and teaching women and children that were too young to fight medical techniques. That left Tenten, Temari and Kankuro to keep track of weaponry and regular supplies. Together, they slowly fortified Suna and its people. Naruto was constantly around the village helping where he could and then return to working on strategies with Gaara. He was not the only one as every single one of them threw themselves into anything they could to keep the remaining people safe.

But…

End of Flashback

Kakashi sighed, "….I will allow it this once. Since your reasoning seems doable, I guess we can continue. However, you will listen when I tell you to back out." said Kakashi, a frown evident even with the mask on.

"Alright," Naruto conceded; a triumphant smile on his face. Sakura and Sasuke traded smug looks while Tazuna gave a small sigh of relief.

"Come on, old man, you have a bridge you need to finish building. Leave Gato to us. We will protect you," said Naruto with a grin.

Meanwhile hidden a distance away, someone listen to the conversation with rapt attention. He watched the whole scene with a contemplative look. What a strange group of people. He had better report this. Without another second wasted, the person disappeared from view.

The remainder of the trip was smoothly without an incident. They were ferried to the inland and led to a small house at the edge of the village. There, they were greeted by a young lady who had been waiting for their arrival, "Father! I am so glad you made it back!" she said, giving him a tight hug and a kiss on the cheek before turning to the Konoha ninjas.

Tsunami gave a small bow and greeted them, "Hello, my name is Tsunami. It is a pleasure to meet you all. Please come in! I am sorry, but the accommodations may be a bit tight." They all nodded their greetings and followed her into the house.

It was as the three time travelers remembered it: small, but spacious; sparse, but homely. The house had a 'welcome home' feeling that was comforting and inviting. They all loved it.

As Naruto walked in with everyone, he noticed a small boy watching them through a crack of a door in the hallway leading to the bedrooms. When their eyes met, the boy glared and closed the door with a slam. Naruto frowned.

Tsunami heard the slam and turned to everyone with a sad smile, "I'm sorry. That was my son, Inari. He's not that talkative but he's really sweet once you get to know him…."

She looked a bit downcast but it disappeared as quickly as it came. She looked at the ninjas critically, "Were you guys hungry during the trip? It must have been very long! Why don't I cook you guys something now…. "

The three traded amused looks while Kakashi simply kept reading, though they could have sworn that he was just as amused by Tsunami as they were. "She reminds me of someone I know very well; don't you think so Sasuke?" muttered Sakura, a thoughtful look on her face.

Sasuke gave a small smirk "That idiot? Of course," replied the Uchiha.

"Hey!" cried Naruto, indignantly. The laughter heard seemed to brighten the whole room.

It was a good while later that the team managed to slip out of the house. Tsunami had been rather fussy about them, in the end forcing them to have lunch that amounted to two servings too much. All the fussing around was endearing, but there was a limit to how much the team could stand.

"I'm so glad we are out now." Naruto sighed with relief. He couldn't remember Tsunami being so active.

"She's giving you a run for your money Naruto!" teased Sakura.

"Why are you being so mean!" complained Naruto with a pout.

Kakashi who was reading his precious book, acted indifferent to the squabble. Internally, however, he was once again struck by the dilemma of his genin. He had gone through the records for his three students and he reread all of it. None of it added up. For one, the levels of combat were completely wrong. There was no way Sakura was incapable of taijutsu as she was completely fine in terms of keeping up with her two teammates while Naruto was not incompetent in ninjutusu as most people were inclined to think.

Reading the reports on their academic levels, he found that it was mediocre at best while the notes on behavior were completely shocking. Sure, there was the Uchiha was quiet but that was about it. But he found it surprising that Naruto was a class clown, constantly going against teachers and getting in trouble for misbehavior. Sakura was written up as a rather vain girl, worried more about her looks then her training. The three were said to have a great hate for each other and were constantly causing trouble.

When he had initially looked through the reports, he hadn't really given it much thought, just that it was a waste of his time. He was sure that they were going to be unsuccessful. When he had given them the test he had expected them to fail with flying colors. But instead he was thoroughly beaten and humiliated, much to his embarrassment.

Upon close inspection, he realized something strange. They seem to be incredibly close to each other: as if they had known each other for years. It was particularly during the exam that he noticed this. The way they fought was very fluid in terms of collaboration; each knew what he or she was supposed to do without any words being exchanged.

Kakashi had gone to see Iruka after the test and found information that did not match the current genin before him. Apparently, Sasuke isolated himself from everyone and never talked unless asked a question. Sakura was a fan girl hopelessly in love with Sasuke and she downright hated Naruto. Naruto was an attention seeking boy with no regard for rules and what not, the class dunce.

It was as if they went through a metamorphosis right before his test. They were nothing close to what they were said to be. They trained with determination that he never thought to see in anybody their age. Watching their mock battles further showed their strengths. Though they never really hurt each other, their attacks were definitely worth watching out for. What was odd to him was the feeling that they were withholding something be it strength or information.

Then there was that incident with Sasuke. How he managed to get him out of the water prison alone was suspicious. The technique that he used was strange in that he himself had never seen it before. When the boy went for Zabuza, Kakashi could have sworn he saw sparks forming on Sasuke's hand. But that was impossible right? When he asked the Uchiha about it, the kid steadily looked away and stayed tight-lipped.

Something was up. He knew it. He needed to find out.

The grayed haired ninja was soon interrupted by a pinked hair girl, "Kakashi Sensei, if you only brought us out here so that you could read your vulgar book then we might as well go train ourselves," muttered Sakura.

The girl looked like she wanted nothing more than to rip the book to shreds and burn it to dusk. Kakashi slowly closed his book and tucked it away as he eyed the genin warily. Naruto and Sasuke snickered at Kakashi, who glared at the two boys causing them to sober up instantly.

He gave a light cough, "Hmm, today we are going to have mock battles. You guys will fight each other and then switch in and out every two minutes. Loser has to stay out and keep watch for the night"

The three Genin traded looks at each other and smirked. Naruto began stretching, "Don't you guys chicken out," taunted the blonde with a grin.

Sakura arched her brow in mild amusement, "Bring it," she said as she put on her gloves.

Kakashi clapped his hands, "Alright, first up Sasuke and Naruto."

The two boys moved to stand in front of each other. "Hey, want to go all out? Or are you scared?" said Naruto with a feral smirk. The blonde was itching for a battle.

Sasuke raised his brow, "Don't blame me if you end up losing, idiot."

Naruto narrowed his eyes, "Very well then."

Sakura frowned. Just what were they planning to do? Kakashi in the meantime, could not help but notice that there was a strangely serious tone. All of a sudden, Sasuke stretched out his hand, waiting for Naruto to the same. Naruto looked at Sasuke strangely, before he realized what it meant. The blonde gave a soft smile, something so strange on his face that Kakashi could only stare in confusion.

The blonde chuckled, "So you remembered…" said Naruto as he clasped the Uchiha's hand.

The raven haired genin raised his brow, "Of course."

Flashback

It had been months since Konoha had fallen. Suna had been under siege. Though most of the attacks were failures there were still many casualties. Thankfully, there was only a small amount of deaths, nothing ever over ten or twenty.

After one such attack, Team 7 and the Kazekage took to the roof of the Kazekage's tower, mourning for the ones that died and enjoying one more day of living. It was quiet as they all staring up at the countless stars that littered the sky in silence.

It was Naruto who spoke first, "I wish…I were a genin again…" mused the blonde, a look of longing in his eyes.

"Well, technically you were never made chuunin so you're still a genin," teased Sakura, a small smile on her face. Sasuke and Gaara chuckled at the comment. Naruto cast an irritable glance at Sakura before continuing, "You know what I mean."

His three friends traded looks of confusion. Naruto frowned, "Oh Come on!" said Naruto before giving an exasperated sigh. "I mean before this whole war."

Naruto moved to stand at the edge leaning against the ridge. At the bottom, he could see some kids playing with a battered ball while adults sat around trading drinks and chatting, "I miss when we use to have just mock fights for fun. All we had to worry about was carrying out stupid missions," whispered the blonde with nostalgia.

That look remained but for another second before changing to despair, "Now we are practically leading a war. Us kids, leading people to die!" Naruto waved his hands towards the monument as if to emphasize his point.

The other three looked at each other as they realized just what Naruto was doing.

Sakura got up and moved to give him a hug, "Naruto, don't blame yourself. It's not your fault that they died…" started Sakura quietly.

However, Naruto simply moved away to look at all of them, "Then whose fault is it? I'm leading all these people to death. They trust me to get them through this but we are getting nowhere! Every day the death piles up! How much longer before we lose everyone?"

Naruto's eyes looked lost and dark with sorrow, "I'm so sick of seeing people die, of killing."

The blonde sighed dejectedly, covering his face with a hand tiredly. The three traded looks of shock. How long has this been building up in Naruto for him to have such an outburst?

Gaara could only give Naruto a look of sympathy. He knew exactly how Naruto felt. As the Kazekage, he too had reached this point of thought, many times over.

Suddenly Sasuke spoke, breaking the silence, "You are being more of an idiot than I am giving credit for," The Uchiha captain stood before the blonde, a look of anger in his eyes.

The raven haired man sneered, "Look at yourself; so just because a few people die you're going to just give up? This is pathetic."

Naruto growled angrily a flash of crimson streaking through the blonde's eyes, "Watch it bastard,"

Sasuke pointedly ignored both the glare and the threat. Instead he grabbed the blonde by the shoulder and punched him, sending the blonde to the ground.

Naruto narrowed his eyes, "What the hell?"

Sasuke glared right back at the blonde, "There are still people who are alive. They are not stupid. It was their choice to follow you. We, they, all knew that there would be plenty of casualties. Nobody expects you to save every single person."

Sakura interjected, "Naruto, this is a war. People will die, but they all fighting to contribute to winning this war. Even the children are doing their best to help,"

"Are just going to let that go to waste and give up?" asked Gaara who had been silent up until now.

Sakura gave a small smile at Naruto, "We are all in this together. If we fall then we will fall defending our hopes and ideals. You don't have to shoulder the burden alone." She gave Naruto a small squeeze on his shoulder. Naruto looked from Sasuke and Sakura before turning to face Gaara. Gaara gave him a small nod. He, too, would be there for him.

Naruto felt his anger simply wash away, replaced by a warmness that he had not felt in a long time. He smiled. "I'm sorry. I just felt so helpless."

"When this is all over, how about we settle our fight? We go all out, winner takes all. Though it is probably me who will be the victor," suggested Sasuke with a smirk.

Naruto narrowed his eyes at the challenge, "Don't think so highly of yourself, Uchiha. You know you are only second to me," said Naruto with a smirk.

Sasuke looked pointedly at Naruto, "We'll see."

Without another word, the two shook hands sealing the deal. Sakura gave a small sigh before smiling. At least Naruto was out of his dreary mood. Life seemed less bleak, if only for a moment.

End of Flashback

Naruto smirked, "Get ready, Uchiha."

Kakashi narrowed his eyes. Never had he heard the blonde call his teammate like that.

Sasuke scoffed "I have always been ready."

Sakura watched the exchange with reminiscent eyes, "So they are finally going to do it," she said quietly to herself.

Kakashi looked at Sakura. What did she know about this?

"What do you mean?" asked Kakashi.

She had been so caught up in the moment that she did not notice when she slipped until it was too late, "Well, during the war they had a deal and…Shit!"

Sakura spun to face Kakashi. The man arched his brow, suspicion in his eyes, "What war?"

Sakura gave an internal wail at her blunder. How could she have been so unaware! "Would you mind explaining what this 'war' is Sakura? While we are at it, mind explaining why you guys seem to know more than you let on?" asked Kakashi, eye filled with suspicion.

Sakura narrowed her eyes as her mind raced to say something. "Umm, Please Kakashi-sensei; can you just let them have this fight? I promise I'll explain…everything," said the pinked haired girl quietly. Kakashi made no comment instead turning to face the two boys. Sakura bit her lip and hoped dearly that things wouldn't get too overboard.

The two 'boys' did not hear any part of the exchange. They were too busy analyzing their situation to notice. When a twig snapped in the distance there was a clash of kunai sounded through the forest. It began. They blocked and attacked each other, nothing but taijutsu and their kunai.

Kakashi looked a bit put out. Was this the quote on quote going all out? This seemed to be a simple session. He was about to question Sakura once more when he saw a slight chakra flare… What in the world? Kakashi pulled up his headband and activated his sharingan. What he saw surprised him. Their attacks were all infused with chakra. This was not a small feat mainly because of the whimsicalness of chakra. He did not know many people who were able to keep such a concentration so steadily. But these kids! He was willing to bet that they probably had it since the beginning.

Soon, the two boys started to integrate their Justus with their attacks. Sakura stared at the fight before frowning, "Kakashi sensei, I think we should retreat a bit," suggested Sakura.

Kakashi eyed the girl who was watching the fight with calculating green eyes. "Why is that. I don't see any danger…." He started to say, when Sakura pushed him back.

"Move out of the way!" she said with shout. They were just in time as a speeding ball of fire, the size of a basketball, strayed from the battle.

The fiery ball passed them and straight into a tree, creating a hole where there was once a trunk.

"Where did he learn that?" asked Kakashi.

Sakura gave a small shrug, "He just modified the original jutsu. He found that if you alter the amount of chakra expelled you get very…different results. It comes in handy."

Kakashi narrowed his eyes "Then why has he never used this before? Your leaving something out, Sakura,"

Sakura looked at her teacher guiltily. She was about to answer but was interrupted when…they both felt a buildup of chakra from where Naruto and Sasuke stood.

They turned just in time to see two of Naruto's doppelgangers disappear leaving the original holding a blue spiracle of what seemed to be moving chakra and Sasuke, with his sharingan activated, holding onto his arm as sparks flew from it.

"What the hell do they think they're doing?" said Sakura, wide-eyed. They were not supposed to go that far! Kakashi could only stare in shock. Those moves…they were impossible. One of them was only known by two people and the other was that of his creation!

As Naruto and Sasuke charged at each other, Kakashi was intent on one thing. Before the two combatants could comprehend what happened, they were both sent flying in opposite directions. Their attacks aimed for each other were now aimed towards the ground, creating small craters. As they looked around to see what happened they were greeted with a not so pleasant sight. Kakashi was standing at the center with a cold blank stare. Sakura, who was behind Kakashi looked angry and a bit scared.

Kakashi glared at the genin, "Care to explain how you learned those attacks?" The two boys flinched at the tone and one synonymous thought ran through the heads of team 7. Shit.

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Thank you for reading! Feel free to comment and critique! =)


	11. Wave Arc IV

Hi! I hope everybody is having a wonderful new year. Here is the next chapter! I hope you all enjoy it. Thank you all for reviewing and commenting. :)

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This was such a fool move on their part. How could they have just forgotten themselves in the moment? It was a wonder that the man did not try to trap and interrogate them right then and there. Yet, this situation was no better for they had nothing to say that could assuage the man. Naruto and Sasuke seemed at a complete lose of what to say, completely mum at where they landed.

Sakura, who stood behind the man, seemed to be frozen with indecision for a moment before steeling herself to make the move.

"Just who are you really? Are you impost-!" He never finished the sentence. In a matter of seconds, the man crumbled down onto the ground. It was no surprise to the two male at what had happened. Sakura had simply hit the pressure point at the back of his neck, effectively knocking him out. The two males quickly got up and helped drag their sensei to lean against a tree.

With that done, Naruto glanced at Sakura, a frown on his face, "How much time do we have before he wakes?"

Sakura pursed her lips in thought, "Roughly ten minutes. That's the average time with the amount of pressure I put into it," replied the girl. That was not enough time at all. Sasuke cursed under his breath while Naruto closed his eyes, rubbing at his brow. Just what the hell were they going to tell the man? There was so much that could go wrong.

Sakura narrowed her eyes as she turned to the two males, "Of all the stupidest things you guys have done, THIS is by far the worst," she hissed in irritation. "What in the world were you guys thinking?"

Sasuke shot her an equally irritated glare, "Why didn't you stop us? You just stood there."

"Because I didn't think you guys would go that far!" said the girl in frustration. If looks could have killed, they both would have been dead and gone. Sakura was about to say something more when their third teammate cut in.

"Shut it," commanded Naruto, glaring at his two companions, "We do not have the time to put the blame on whomever. We have more pressing matters to worry about."

The two gave each other another glare before reluctantly dropping the subject. They all knew that they royally screwed up. Most of it was to be blamed on their laxness. The future seemed so unreal and at times, they were prone to pushing it to the back of their mind and enjoying the simplicity of the present. The fact that the future they experienced was now only a distant possibility left them to being less careful and doing things without a care. But look at where this led them to.

Sasuke stared grimly at their teacher, "No matter how you look at it, we have no choice but to tell him."

"But how much do we say?" asked Sakura. If they gave too much information then the man would start to act on his own and perhaps, change everything about the timeline. But if they gave too little, they had no way of convincing the man that what they said was true. Another minute passed in silence. This was truly a precarious predicament.

Naruto sighed, "We tell him nothing of our plans, nothing. Basic information and general ideas of what happened can be told, but no names. Whatever he figures out, leave him to speculate."

"That's going to be hard considering the fact that a lot of that basic information can be viewed as complete bull to him," pointed out Sakura, a brow raised in disagreement.

Naruto frowned at the pink haired genin, "Then we'll just have to make him believe it. Tell him things that he knows for a fact is truth that no genin or imposter could possible know."

"And pray do tell, what that would be, oh wise one?" asked Sasuke sarcastically. Naruto glared at Sasuke but before he could reply, their unconscious sensei began to stir ever so slightly.

"I thought you said that he would be out for at least ten minutes…" muttered Sasuke, "I do believe only five minutes have passed. If I recall correctly, this might be because he use to be an ANBU."

Sakura shot a withering glare at the male, "It slipped my mind, Uchiha. Okay?"

Naruto sighed, "Well, there goes anymore planning."

The fox, who had been listening in decided to interfere, '_**Stupid kits, sometimes I have to wonder how you all managed to survive so long. Were it up to me I -**_'

'**SHUT UP**,' was the collective reply.

Said fox snarled at the genin, '_**Brats,' **_

The three watched their sensei come to his senses in silence. Said man was looked around blearily before jumping to his feet in alarm. His three genin sat a few inches from where he was. He frowned. The fact that they had not fled and that he was not dead or maimed must mean something. He eyed the three suspiciously. The three stared straight back, waiting for the man to speak.

"Alright, spit it out. Who are you people and what have you done to my students?" asked the man, going straight to the point.

The three traded looks of mild amusement before Sakura spoke, "We are your students, Kakashi-sensei."

"No. Mere genin do not possess the ability to use those techniques you displayed. Better yet, where did you learn those, huh?"

"Well, I learned the Rasengan from that pervert-sanin," said Naruto calmly, "Sasuke learned the Chidori from you."

Kakashi eyed the boy in disbelief, "I have never taught anybody that technique. What nonsense are you spouting?"

"We're from the future. That's how," answered Sasuke bluntly. Kakashi stared. Naruto hit his head, while Sakura sighed.

A few seconds passed before Kakashi could find his voice, "Are you trying to be funny?"

Sasuke glared at the gray haired man, "Does it look like I'm trying?" asked the ebony haired male.

Sakura cut in, "What he said is true. If you think about it, there is no possible way for the two of them to know those techniques."

Kakashi raised his brow, "Oh? And you just simply expect me to believe that the three of you are supposedly from the future?"

He was met with silence. "What if we were to tell you things that no genin or any imposter, for that matter, would know?" suggested Naruto, a thoughtful look on his face.

Sasuke and Sakura traded glances. Just what was the blonde planning to tell? Kakashi scoffed in disbelief, but did not deny the blonde.

"Well, in the future, we learned many things about you that you yourself told us. One in particular would be about Obito and Rin," said Naruto with a raised brow. He was pretty sure Kakashi never told a soul about that incident.

Sakura nodded as she recalled the memory, "Rin was your team medic, while Obito was an Uchiha who sort of acted like Naruto."

Sasuke continued quietly, "It was during a mission against the Stone country that you received your eye. However, it was at the cost of the death of your friend."

The three could remember it clearly. A couple of weeks before the man died, they had been trading stories after a particularly successful mission. It was then that the man regaled them with tales of his past. It was then, they found out about his life as a genin. It was the first and last time the man spoke so much and so in-depth.

There was no expression from their sensei now. He stood stock still, as if lost in his own world. And indeed he was. As the three talked about the incident, the man could not help but recall in detail what had happened. Those memories that he had kept, locked away deep in his mind. He had never told anybody who he received the eye from. So these people really were not lying. Things made so much more sense now: their team coordination, the jump in abilities, the increase in knowledge, as well as their maturity. It was unbelievable but what else could he put it as?

The man looked at the three that sat before him, waiting for his response. He sighed, before sitting down before the genin, "So what brought you back to the present or is it the past?"

"Present. Let's just say that things did not end as well as we had hoped it would," answered Sakura. There was sadness in her voice. An emotion which could only be called anguish showed in her eyes.

Kakashi furrowed his brow, "What do you mean?"

Sakura traded a hesitant look with her two teammates before speaking, "Well, there was an organization that grew to be powerful enough to declare war on all the nations."

"What organization would this be?" asked Kakashi in curiosity. Could it be the one that Jiraiya was currently following?

Sakura shook her head, "I can not disclose that information. However I can tell you what the outcome was. The war essentially caused the annihilation of all the main villages. We did win in the end."

"You can't call that winning the war!" muttered Naruto vehemently. The look on his face was so bitter and sad that it left Kakashi to wonder just how much the three experienced.

Sasuke jabbed his teammate's side, leveling a glare at the male. "Let her finish talking first, idiot." Naruto was about to say more, but reluctantly gave a small nod.

Sakura continued softly, "Near the end of the whole war, we had begun to work on a scroll that the Kyuubi provided us with. It contained a time travelling jutsu that was only partially completed. We used it and here we are now."

Kakashi frowned, "You all know about the Kyuubi and what it had done to our village." The three nodded their heads. "Yet you speak of him as if he were close to you."

Sakura objected, "It was not the fox's fault. There was someone one else pulling the strings during that time."

"Let's just say that someone from the organization caused it, and that he will pay dearly for it as well," said Naruto coldly. Yes, that man would pay for all the lives he had taken.

"The Kyuubi was simply used," muttered Sasuke darkly, "Just like everybody else." Clearly this man was despised by the three. Kakashi could simply feel the anger and hate oozing from the three genin.

Kakashi gave a small nod, "Seeing that the jutsu was a success, how are you going to make sure the future does not end up like that once more?"

Naruto spoke up, "What happened in the future or our present is only one of the infinite possibilities. It doesn't have to happen the way it happened and believe me when I say, it will never happen."

"Is there anything else that you would like to add?" asked Kakashi with a raised brow. There was definitely a great deal of information that the three had left out but whether or not they would tell him was the problem.

Sakura shook her head, "The less you know the better. If we give out too much, you might decide to act on your own. I have a feeling that things will change drastically if you do."

Kakashi frowned at the answer but gave a reluctant nod, "Very well."

"On the bright side, you don't have to hold back as much when training us all," piped Naruto with a grin.

Kakashi raised his brow, "Oh really? We'll see about that."

At first the three were unsure whether or not the man really believed them or not. He showed no change in behavior nor did he continuously ask questions as they had expected of him to. However, the man did up the amount of training, each new routine more strenuous than the next. Sparring sessions became a lot more dangerous as the man seemed to have stopped holding back. More often, than not the one on one session left each of the three completely down while Kakashi looked simply refreshed and barely winded.

Today was another one of those days. Tsunami had just finished cooking dinner and was beginning to set the table when there was a knock on the door. She opened the door to find the three once more, very beaten up.

"I see that Kakashi-sensei hasn't been any easier on you three," she said with a small sigh, "Are you guys alright?" The three tired kids looked at each other and groaned but nodded nether the less.

"Come to the kitchen, I restocked the medical kit. Dinner is going to be served soon, Inari, help me set the tables," commanded the petite woman. The three nodded and followed while Inari scrambled to get the dishware. They figured out the first day after the brutal training began that if they didn't listen to Tsunami, bad things happened.

Naruto who seemed the most bruised out of the bunch declared in a plaintive voice, "Kakashi is the devil incarnate! Where the hell did he learn those training methods! I swear he's just playing with us."

Sasuke and Sakura nodded their heads in tired agreement. Compared to what they had thought to train themselves with, Kakashi's methods were extreme and highly un-recommended for beginners who had no control. At one point they could have sworn that the man was muttering something about changing it to Anbu styled training. As grateful as they were for the willingness to train, this was stretching it. They were still growing for kami's sake.

"This is like what, the third package of bandages we've been through?" muttered Naruto as he dabbed ointment onto the scratches on his arms. The fox had yet to regain enough power to properly heal its host, leaving Naruto fending for himself. That did not dither the blonde from continuing his outrageous trainings. More often than not, Sakura had the chance to practice her medical techniques on the wounds he would sustain.

"Well at least he's willing to help us," commented Sakura before moving to help Tsunami set out the foods on the table. Still, the three could not deny that they were improving. Kakashi had after separately sparring each of them, created separate methods for them to train alone in their particular specialties.

It was at this point that Kakashi and Tazuna walked in to the room. Kakashi had taken to leaving them to train alone while heading to the building site alone with Tazuna. The bridge building process had progressed rapidly as Kakashi's constant presence seemed to give many of the hire hands a second thought on attacking. Kakashi looked to the table he saw three glares aimed at him.

He gave a slight smirk, "Why so glum? Oh, I know, now. Don't worry, I will think up some new training routines for you three since you don't seem satisfied," commented the man thoughtfully, "Then again that trashing that you three received must have tired you out today."

"Trashing?" scoffed Naruto, "You have no idea what a real trashing is. If I had my old-OW!" Naruto glared at the Uchiha who had jabbed his side.

Sakura in the mean time piped up, "What he means is that we will definitely beat you soon."

Kakashi raised his brow in mild amusement before taking a seat at the table, next to Inari. Tazuna chuckled at the antics, thinking nothing of the conversation. Instead he favored taking swig from his ever present bottle of sake.

"Father! What did I say about drinking before eating? It's not good for you!" said Tsunami with a small glare. The table was set with an array of delicious delectable's waiting to be eaten.

Tazuna held up his hand in defeat, "I'm an old man. Cut me some slack," said the man though he did put down the bottle, albeit reluctantly. He glared when he heard muffled sounds of snickers from the two male genin. "Don't laugh you twerps."

Suddenly, there was a loud slam. Inari had brought his fist down on to the table glaring at the three genin that were sitting across from him. "How can you guys act as if nothing bad is going on?" asked Inari, quietly, his eyes burning in anger, "You're just kids. But watch, anybody who goes against Gato will die. You're all going to die!" shouted the boy. Sasuke and Sakura traded looks of unease; the reason was their third teammate. The blonde had his mind shut from them completely, not allowing any contact. Though he looked completely relaxed, the two could feel the anger building up.

Tsunami gasped in shock and anger, "Inari! Don't be rude. They know what they're doing!"

"What?" said Inari with a glare, "Really? I don't think so. All they do is complain about their 'training'. They don't even go to the bridge. What do they know of what we're going through? I bet they regret coming here anyway."

Naruto chose this moment to speak up, "Really now. And why do you think we regret this decision?" asked the blonde curiously. Kakashi narrowed his eyes slight at the sudden change in demeanor. It seemed like the blonde had forgotten himself and was reverting to his later years. He had to say, he would have never expected the boy to be so collected. Then again, the look in the preteen's eyes was anything but calm. Tazuna was about to speak up but a nudge from Kakashi stopped him. The old man raised his brow but understood what the jonin was trying to tell him silently. He then sat back and poured out a cup of sake for himself.

Inari seemed to notice the slight change as well but answered, "All you guys do is complain and joke around like you don't have a care in the world while other people are suffering."

Naruto raised his brow before turning to Sasuke, "Hey, Sasuke-teme. The kid's talking about suffering. Isn't that strange? What about you?"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes; the Uchiha was beginning to see where this was heading, "I do not care. I have my own business to settle."

"See! You guys don't even want to be here!" Inari growled in anger, "WE would have been a happy family. But because Gato was here, he got killed and I watched him die! You don't understand how much I suffered!"

Naruto nodded in agreement, "Yes, yes. But say, we defeat Gato? Will you stop mourning and get up? Or are you going to wallow in the past and blame someone else?"

"What the heck are you talking about?" shouted Inari, "Gato will get you! It's impossible. You guys will probably just run home back to your safe little house with your parents to comfort you! You're just a fake-!"

Sakura, who was about to rise, was held back by Sasuke, '**He knows what he's doing. Trust him.**'

The pink haired girl raised her brow but relaxed herself. Tsunami gave a small gasp while Tazuna only tightened his hold on his cup. Naruto had grabbed Inari by the collar of his shirt and single handedly pulled him up from across the table.

Naruto tooted disappointedly, "Why must you act like such drama queen? The world does not revolve around you." The polite look in Naruto's eyes was replaced with cold icy blue anger, "You, who judge us by what you see in only a couple of days, you have not tasted suffering yet. Really, if you think you life is a sob story then my teammate, this Sasuke-teme here has lived a life of tragedy."

Naruto continued, "He lost BOTH his parents and every single one of his relatives in only a night. Not only that but he was forced to relive their deaths over and over again."

Inari stared with wide eyes, unable to move, "Yes, he cried and mourned but he did something you are too scared to do. He moved on! He got up again."

Naruto dropped the boy back into his seat, anger still no completely gone, "And here you are complaining when you still have people who care about you! What about them? Don't you care about them?" growled Naruto. The blonde gave a frustrated sigh before leaving the table, food untouched.

Tears welled up in Inari's eyes and the kid bolted to his room, while the adults tried to collect themselves. Sasuke and Sakura were traded worried looks; the blonde was pissed. There was no telling what he would do.

Kakashi sighed, "Don't worry about Inari. I'll go talk to him. You two, go calm down your teammate." The two quickly left without another word. Meanwhile Tazuna helped Tsunami clear the barely touched food. It seemed that everyone had lost their appetite. Tazuna did not know what to think of the blonde, his first impression had been that the brat was a kid and didn't know any better. But gradually, he could see that all three were just something else. They seemed to understand hardship and pain very well for being only preteens. The man gave a small sigh; thankfully, he had decided to stay a bridge builder.

Kakashi made his way to the boy's room, knocking gently on the door. The door gave way and there sat Inari on the floor with his knees up to his chest. He looked so lost that Kakashi could not help but feel slightly bad, "Hey, do you mind if I talk with you for a moment?"

Inari looked up and shook his head. Sakura sat across from the boy, taking out his book, "Look, Naruto isn't usually like this but he really cares about you." Inari looked at the man incredulously. Kakashi scratched his head, "Yes, for all his talk, he isn't the type to not help others."

Inari looked down, "It didn't seem like it before."

Kakashi looked up from his book, "Let me tell you something. There was once this boy. His parents had died when he was only a baby. Nobody liked him because they thought he was a demon and everyone shunned him He had no friends and every day, he would wonder why. But one day he got fed up with all the wondering and crying…and he stopped. He decided that he would become the Hokage and prove to everyone that he would be a hero." Inari listened to the silver haired man, "Then that boy went on a mission and he found a boy that was going through something similar to what he had gone through and he wanted to help."

Inari looked at the man in shock as he realized where this was heading, "Naruto?" he whispered.

Kakashi nodded. "Naruto can be a bit blunt with what he says but he means what he says."

Inari looked down and twittered his thumbs. "I'm sorry…It's just that, dad was like my ray of hope. He would always tell me to never give up. When he was gone I felt like I lost my ray."

Kakashi got up with a small groan before giving Inari a pat, "Don't feel that way. I'm sure your father wouldn't want you to give up. He wanted you to fight for what you believed in. He fought for what he believed in and you should be proud to have someone like that as your father."

Inari gave a weak smile "Yah I suppose so… I shouldn't have put all my troubles on you guys and Naruto."

Kakashi gave a small smile, "Don't worry. Just apologize to him. I'm sure they won't mind." Inari nodded and smiled even wider.

"Now let's go get something to eat. I'm sure you're still hungry." A growl sounded the room and they both looked at Inari's stomach. He blushed and ducked his head. Kakashi gave a small chuckle before ushering the boy to the kitchen. Once the boy settled down to eat, Kakashi looked back at the book he held. He hoped that the three did not get into any trouble.

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Hope you all enjoyed it. Feel free to critique and comment. I understand that some points of the story so far have seemed rather unrealistic but hopefully i will get that sorted out. Anyway, feel free to critique and comment. :)


	12. Wave Arc V

First off, I would like to apologize for the lack of updating... I am sorry. Secondly, I hope you all enjoy the new chapter! Thank you all for staying and putting up with such a writer and being so patient! Thank you, Really. You guys are really great!

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The rain had yet to let up as Sakura jumped down from the tree, landing with a light squishy thump. Standing at the base of the tree was an equally wet Uchiha. His hair had drooped under the heavy pelting rain, making him lose the usual hairstyle of his. He had clearly been fruitless in his search as well. Sakura could not help but give a soft sigh of annoyance. Having been searching for her missing teammate for the past two hours, she was quite drenched and cold. Neither of the two were any mood boosters. Yet there was not a sign of the blond genin anywhere. She could not help but curse at the blonde's adeptness at hiding. She was definitely sure that he knew of their search for him.

"Have you found any signs of him?" asked Sasuke, a scowl on his face as he once again pushed a stray clump of hair from his eyes. His search had gone very poorly to say the least. For all his skills in tracking, there was little he could do in such deplorable weather. Adding to the fact that they were searching for an even more elusive target than normal, made it all the more tedious. It was Naruto, the blonde practically invented hiding.

Sakura shook her head, "No. He still isn't responding and he's also suppressing Kyubbi's link. I can't find him without that. There's no way for us to get to him."

"Damn that idiot," muttered the black haired genin in irritation.

Sakura was inclined to agree with her companion's comment. Usually, when Naruto went into one of his little fits, they would be able to track him down through Kyubbi mainly because the fox did not want to deal with his container's sulking. In fact, there were moments where the fox literally ordered the two come to their teammate, much to Naruto's annoyance. But even without the fox's tattling, the Kyubbi's link would always lead them to him, in the end. Naruto did not have nearly as much chakra as the fox had to suppress the dominant link.

However, this time, it was a different matter. The blonde had complete success in overpowering the link. It probably wasn't much of a feat considering the fact that Kyubbi was still trying to recover the chakra that he had used to get them to where they were.

"We might as well go back," said the Uchiha with a moody glare, "The chances that we find him are close to zero."

It wasn't that he didn't want to keep searching; he was just not keen on spending the night out in the rain doing so. If they had more supplies with them he would not have minded humoring his pink haired partner and staying. But, being that they had left most of their belongings in the house, they could only get so far. If the idiot didn't want to be found, so be it.

Sakura rolled her eyes, "So we're just leaving him here?" asked the girl in mild disbelief. They had barely been out for more than a couple hours. She was surprised by the male's reluctance since it was he that always found the blonde in the end.

"Worse comes to worst, the idiot can spend the night out in the cold," said Sasuke with a raised brow, "Maybe the rain will wash the stupidity out of him."

Sakura shook her head in amusement, "But we're pretty deep in the forest. It seems a shame to stop now." They were already this far in, there was no way she was going to go back empty handed. Frankly, she was getting pretty cold and the thought of taking a warm shower was sounding more and more appealing, "Let's split up. One more hour, we meet back at the house."

Before the other had time to protest, Sakura disappeared into forest. Sasuke glared at the empty space that was once the pinked haired girl before going to the opposite direction. Damn that girl.

Meanwhile, the source of the problem was busy trying to dislodge him-self from the wreckage that he had created; accidentally, mind you. The cause of the destruction was due to the explosion of an unstable Rasengan. He had been so lost in thought that the unfinished technique that he had been toying with dispersed and sent him flying. He landed back first into the foot of the mountain, creating a human size crater around him. Muddy pieces of rubble went showering all over the poor blonde clinging to his self like feathers on tar.

It didn't help that he could hear a rather maniacal laughter erupt from the demon fox who had been anticipating the spectacle for a while, '_**Smart move, gaki. You are the epitome of genius**__,_' cackled the fox in amusement, '_**I commend you.'**_

Naruto let out a small growl, '**Shut up, you stupid fox**.' He tried, with no apparent success, to get the mud off. The only thing he accomplished was smudging the wet dirt even more.

The fox watched the spectacle in amusement, '_**I'm not the one screwing around with a ball of chakra, brat,'**_ replied the fox with another cackle, _**'Then again you're the only one I know of that would try to.**_'

"Very funny f-," Naruto frowned as he a familiar chakra signal approach closer. He could not help but curse at his luck. "How is it that they always find me? I even blocked your stupid link this time!"

'_**Well, maybe they wouldn't have found you if you'd paid attention to your stupid technique,**_' pointed out the fox, with a condescending smirk, thoroughly enjoying his container's ire. The blonde opted to ignore the fox's taunt, instead turning his attention towards the arrival behind him.

"Why are you here?" asked the blonde sharply as he flicked off remnant pebbles, giving up on the mud. He did not bother turning towards him or moving away as the male approached him, "I'm fine."

"Of course I would end up finding you," The Uchiha gave a sigh in exasperation, "Just my luck."

Naruto gave a small growl of irritation, "Then leave," replied the blonde coldly. Sasuke scoffed, making no move to depart and not at all affected by the threat in the blonde's voice, "Are you done moping?"

"I was not moping," growled the blonde with an icy blue glare. He was now facing the raven haired genin, "You guys should have just stayed back at the house."

Sasuke raised a brow, ignoring the blonde's comment in favor of something else he had noticed, "Good to know that I can sense Kyubbi now."

Indeed, the blonde had released the suppressed link, as it had lost its purpose. He should have known that it would have been useless. It was inevitable that they would find him. A barely suppressed guffaw rang through their minds, '_**Clearly, kit,'**_ said the fox with an amused grin, resting its head on its front paws, '_**Sometimes, I wonder at why you bother to even try.'**_

Sasuke shook his head in exasperation, before changing the topic to something more relevant, "You are free to go back."

Naruto grimaced, turning away from his companion, "I don't want to."

"Kakashi went to talk to Inari before we left," supplied the Uchiha with a raised brow, "I'm sure he'll convince the boy like he did the first time."

Naruto gave an uncertain frown, "But what if he doesn't? What if I went too far this time-!" The blonde gave a small yelp of surprise as he was sent sprawling back onto the wet ground.

When he looked up he could see the Uchiha looking down at him with a smirk. Naruto gave an indignant yell, "What was that for?"

Sasuke gave a small shrug, blatantly ignoring the hostility in Naruto's tone. "I had hoped that the rain would have washed some of your stupidity away but I guess that was too much to hope for," muttered the Uchiha in a clipped tone, "Maybe if you stay down a bit longer, you'll regain some sense."

Naruto glared at the Uchiha before getting up with a small huff, not bothering to come up with a comeback. He was not going to be baited by the stupid Uchiha. The fox watched in amusement, before adding his own two cents, '_**At least that kit**__** is smart enough to know he was wrong, gaki.' **_

Naruto sighed, "I know, but sometimes, I can't help but feel that I should have done something else."

Sasuke shook his head in exasperation. Usually, he would have just let the idiot blonds' rants run their course. However, their current location was not the most ideal of settings and he was completely drenched, tired, and dirty. There was a limit to how patient he was going to be.

"The kid isn't a fool like you, Naruto."

"Are you trying to start a fight with me?" asked Naruto testily, glaring at the Uchiha, who actually did look like he was tempted to do just that. The fox, seeing where this was going decided it was high time he took a long nap, promptly shutting himself from the beginnings of a fight.

In another area of the forest, Sakura was inwardly cursing her choice of direction. Somehow, she had managed to discover Zabuza's personal hideout as well as the man behind all of the village's misfortune, Gato. Said man seemed to have brought a group of what looked to be hire-hands. Each looked threatening in his own respect however, though Sakura knew otherwise. These kinds of men were ones that just dressed tough. If anything, these men were third rate, at best. A typical high genin or low Chunin could probably dispatch them with a little bit of effort. There was perhaps one or two that even looked remotely challenging to the pink haired girl.

The temptation to just eliminate the ringleader was a bit too tempting to dismiss. Grant, she highly doubted that Zabuza and his men would take to it kindly if she killed their source of income. In the end, she had just opted to hide and observe the men.

"Why didn't you kill him?" shouted a short bushy haired man, "I thought I told you to eliminate that old bastard!" The man was clearly unhappy with the results of the work that was left undone. The target was an eyesore to Gato's rulings and he wanted it gone.

Zabuza, who was leaning against the door of his temporary abode, looked anything but cowed at the man's anger. In fact, the swordsman looked like he was ready to fall asleep at any moment's notice. Sakura would have giggled if she knew she wouldn't be heard by the grumpy ninja. As much as she wanted to try a round with the ninja, she was still tired from the training and it was not the most ideal conditions either.

It was clear that Zabuza did not care for the man's authority. In front of the nuke-ninja, stood Haku and surprisingly, the Demon Brothers. The two brothers had weapons posed to attack if necessary. However, like their leader, there was no sign of wariness to the mass. One of the Demon brothers even had the audacity to yawn, rather loudly too. That struck a nerve as Gato took notice. "Are any of you taking this seriously?" shouted the man, louder than volume of his shout, if that were possible, "I pay you fools!"

"Yah, old man, I got what you said," said Zabuza, finally moving from his spot, a hint of annoyance in the man's tone. "It will be done, tomorrow."

There was an uneasy shift in the group at the movement of the ninja; many nervously holding onto their respective weapons, just in case. Whether or not Gato noticed, it was clear to the hired mercenaries that the demon swordsman was quickly losing patience. The man only glared at the swordsman once more before turning to leave. "If it is not done before noon, I am cutting your payment to a half."

The samurai followed Gato, many looking back more than once at the unmoving figures of the missing nin. Once the group disappeared, Zabuza turned back into the temporary dwelling, "This is a pathetic waste of our time," muttered the man with a scoff, "I rather try my hand at challenging that copy nin."

Haku, who had taken off his mask, gave a small smile, "We can always eliminate him."

"That's what Gozu wanted to do in the first place," muttered one of the Demon brothers, a peeved look on his face, "This old man is senile."

Gozu, who had been fiddling with the gauntlet in his right hand, nodded in agreement, "He's has the brain of a chicken."

"What about the Konoha nins?" asked Haku suddenly, a slight frown on his face, "How are your injuries?"

"I am fine, Haku," said Zabuza, moving inside of the house, "Didn't you say that you had something to say about those Leaf nins?"

Haku was quiet for a moment before shaking his head, "It was not relevant," said the long haired nin, following his mentor into the building, "I'm sure that the Leaf nin was just trying to gain an advantage over me…"

The rest of the conversation was muffled as the all of them slipped back into the house. Sakura waited a good few minutes before moving away from her hiding place and retreated back into the forest. Heading towards the general direction, Sakura once again attempted to reach through her link, only this time she was blocked by not one, but both of her companions. That could only mean two things; Sasuke had found the blonde and somehow they were fighting… again. She bit back an explicative that she had learned from Kiba, before nudging the fox's connection and entering the open cell.

"Kyu?" called Sakura tentatively. She was met with a grouchy growl.

'_**I'm trying to sleep, pinky,'**_ muttered the Kyuubi, one eye opened to glare down at the girl, '_**Are you planning to stop them?'**_

Sakura arched a brow, before shaking her head, "I'm heading back to the house, they can play all they want," she answered airily, "But once they're done, can you tell them to get an idea of what they want to do with Zabuza and his group?"

The Kyuubi snorted, '_**By the time they'll listen, it'll be the next day.'**_

"I need to check on Inari and Kakashi-Sensei. Someone needs to tell them that we're fine," reasoned Sakura, glaring at the fox, "You're not even doing anything."

When there was no answer, Sakura rolled her eyes in exasperation before leaving the fox. "They plan to attack tomorrow."

Morning was slow in its arrival. The rain from the night had been heavy and long but the sun, shining down; brought everything out into view. Trees and plants glistened with dew drops and birds chirps rang through the air. Enjoying this quiet scenery was none other than Haku. He had much to mull over and things got to the point where a long walk was something much appreciated. Last night's rain had been rather sudden but refreshing. The whole world seemed to have been revitalized. He loved it when it was like this.

Haku walked deeper into the forest, making turns here and there. It was a pass time of his to walk and observe nature and he would always be the first of the group to get the scope of the grounds. It also helped that he wasn't near that wretched person, Gato. He grit his teeth in anger at the thought of Gato and his treacherous ways. It was men like him that he despised working with the most. They had no sense of honor nor did they respect the quality and skill of those they hired.

He let out a small sigh as he continued to walk through the forest, occasionally picking some plants that he needed to restock on. His thoughts ran back to what the leaf ninja that had told him. Try as he might, he just could not forget the blonde's offer. He spoke as if he knew, as if he had experience. But that was impossible; the male was barely as old as Haku, possibly two or three years younger.

Yet, he could not help but feel a well of hope when the blonde surprised him like that. Haku had not told anybody of what the blonde said. Zabuza would have only scoffed, while the two brothers would have just teased Haku for believing in the boy's words. They were missing nins. There was no way that they would ever be able to be free of that.

He walked passed a clearing only to stop in surprise. Greeting his sight was a field containing lots of holes…big holes. The rain had filled them up making the holes look like mini springs.

Haku's mouth dropped in shock. Who could have done such a thing? The last time he was here, it was nothing more than a grassy plain that held some of the plants that he usually liked to pick. A shuffling sound caught his attention. Making sure that the plants that he had collected were tucked away, he silently pulled out couple sebon needles. He threaded towards the sound warily only to frown at what he saw. There, behind a shroud of leaves under a huge tree, were two boys?

They didn't seem to notice him; they were too engaged in a heated conversation. Haku drew closer to hear what they were saying. One of the boys was a blonde with spiky hair that stuck out everywhere; the other had ebony colored hair. Both look like they had been through a mudslide as neither showed even a speck of cleanness.

Suddenly one of the boys looked up and stared at him, causing him to stiffen in surprise. It was the blonde. He looked familiar but Haku couldn't remember why. It was hard to really tell the exact features of the males.

The ebony haired boy who had been talking turned to look at where his companion was staring. His eyebrows shot up in surprise before his face became void of any emotions. The blonde got out of the shrubbery. "Hey! What's up? Why are you so deep in the forest?" asked the dirty blond giving Haku a big smile.

His companion rose as well, following the blond male out. Neither of the two seemed all that bothered by the fact that Haku was holding weapons, which puzzled the male to no end.

After a while, Haku sighed before giving a small smile; if they knew the danger, then he might as well play along. "I was taking a walk. May I ask who you guys are?"

The blonde nodded his head vigorously, his grin becoming impossibly wider. "My name is Naruto and this guy's name is Sasuke," introduced Naruto, as he first pointed to himself and then at Sasuke who gave a small nod of acknowledgement.

"We were just hanging around." He then frowned before asking, "What's your name?"

"My name is Haku."

Naruto beamed. "Well Haku! It's a pleasure to meet you! Do you mind if we join your walk?"

Sasuke looked a bit annoyed but other than that he did nothing and only nodded his agreement. Haku raised his brow but smiled anyway. Naruto's grin was infectious. He did not know why he was allowing this but he was just letting them walk with him.

The three travelled around and talked about rather random things. Well, it was mostly Naruto talking with Haku giving polite replies. Sasuke would maybe add a word or two every once in a while but more often than not, he was just quiet. Naruto had muttered to Haku that the male was just moody from lack of sleep. That earned the blonde a cuff to the head, much to the blonde's outrage and Haku's amusement.

It was a rather innocent conversation and Haku found himself asking and telling many things that he had never told anyone about. He even told them a bit of his past and that he was a hunter nin, much to his own surprise and the surprise of the other two. But they didn't seem to care, and for that Haku was immensely happy for.

That was until Naruto asked Haku a question, "Hey, Haku. Do you have a precious person that you will protect no matter what?"

Haku tilted his head at the question before nodding "Yes, he's really important to me… He raised me like his own son even though he claims that he's using me for his own means."

Naruto raised his brow in interest and beckoned him to continue. Haku gave a small shrug. "He taught me any things and was the only one who was there for me. I would gladly for him if it was to protect him."

There was a small silence before Naruto nodded and turned to face Haku. "Well if you were given a chance to get away from Gato, would you take it?"

Haku nodded a slight frown on his face. He did not understand where this was going. "Then I think that we can help you!"

At that comment, Haku could not help but raise his brow in disbelief, "How would you do that?" asked the male, puzzled and confused.

Naruto smirked and reached into his pouch and took out a headband. It showed the leaf insignia. Haku tensed and suddenly everything came back to him. It was the same guy who was traveling with the old man that was Gato's target. He immediately moved away from the two. Naruto held up his hands showing that he was not armed in any way.

"What do you want?" said Haku who looked ready to flee at the slightest hint of danger. Naruto shrugged as he tied his headband on

"I am proposing a plan that will help us both!" Naruto's grin turned into a smirk. "I assure you that the end result will have Gato out of commission," he said with a false singsong cheer. Haku looked at the blonde with skeptical disbelief while Sasuke groaned in annoyance, "What he means is that we have a truce to offer you."

Sakura stifled a giggle that threatened to escape as she stood at the edge of the forest near Tazuna's house. She had managed to return with time to wash and nap. Looking at her teammates, she could not help but grin, "You guys danced and frolicked in the rain together?" pouted the girl sadly, "You guys sure make a pair."

They just glared at her teasing. Both boys had returned still covered with mud. The mud itself had dried up and caked their clothes and hair by layers. Sasuke seemed to have twigs and leaves in his usual impeccable hair and looked ready to kill the person he was next to. Naruto just smiled as if nothing could ever go wrong. "Aww is Sakura jealous off being left out?" he asked with a worried look on his face. "Let us cheer you up!"

Then his expression changed into an evil smirk. Before Sakura could react, Naruto and Sasuke both gave her a one armed hug, getting a large proportion of the mud and dirt on to her. She gave shrieked of disgust while Naruto and Sasuke smirked at Sakura. However, their smirks were quick to drop when they realized that the pinked haired girl was not going to take to the joke too kindly. She gave them both a glare that promised retribution.

But, before Sakura could do anything, a light cough caught their attention. Standing at the doorway of the house was Kakashi. He looked bored while leaning on the doorway, but his eyes were filled with amusement.

"Shouldn't you two, no wait, you two, no three, get cleaned?" Naruto whined in protest, while Sakura and Sasuke rolled their eyes.

Sakura glared at the two boys, "Just you wait…I'll get you both."

Kakashi shrugged "You guys should get clean or else you will have to go with no breakfast. And If I remember correctly, two little boys haven't had dinner either." With that said, the jounin went inside, while Sakura dragged them to a nearby creek so that they could get some of the dirt off.

Sakura took this moment to ask the two genin what happened last night. "I assume that Kyubbi told you guys?"

They both nodded before Naruto and Sasuke briefly outline what they did. When asked about the plan, Sasuke shrugged "Worst comes to worst, go in kill Gato and any henchmen that stay and all before Kakashi and Zabuza kill each other."

Sakura raised a brow in amusement before shaking her head. Gato was going to be in for a fun morning.

* * *

Urgghh, Sidenote, I need to get back into Naruto. Once again, I know there is a slight OC and unreasonable way the story is moving in some points and i do apologize. But other than that, I hope you guys enjoyed and have fun with life! Thanks for reading!


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